September weather?

[LittleGreyCat]

Spending far too much time on something that may never happen.

However I have been watching the rain radar and NW England up to NW Scotland area seems to be under almost continual rain.
There does seem to be less rain in general over on the East Coast.

Then again the jet stream is different each year.

Still, it is something to consider.

Sympathy to anyone starting a JOGLE at the moment.

[Paulatic]

The rain hasn’t been constant but the SW wind has.
I rode with a couple of JOGLERs last week. The partnership was under strain They were doing 100 ml days and one was obviously a lot stronger rider than the other. Even the strong rider was getting resentful of having to break the wind day after day. He was very relieved to take my wheel for some respite. In contrast I met, a couple of days later while going for the paper, around 10 LEJOGers. A raging tailwind for them and all with smiling faces.

[PH]

I did it in June, showers and headwind all the way through Scotland, sunshine and tailwind through England. Worst ride was leaving a warm pub where we'd stopped for lunch in Dalwhinnie and battling the rain and headwind for over four hours to cover the 30 miles to Pitlochry. As we covered the last few miles the weather cleared and the sun came out, it remained like that for the rest of the evening, we'd have been better off staying in the pub for the afternoon. That's how it is, luck.

[Jon Lucas]

September is the transition from summer into autumn, and the current weather is fairly typical of that period. South-westerly winds become much more dominant in the autumn, and heavy rainfall is common across the north-western half of the British Isles, and especially in the Scottish highlands, which can also suffer very wet Augusts, such as this year's. Whilst the south-east tends to be much drier in this period, heavy summer showers are common, and this year have been particularly affecting the east coast, which despite the OP's comment has been seeing a lot of rain. It is the south and more inland areas of England that have so far been drier, and in a typical September may well remain like that.

So LEJOG would be far preferable to JOGLE, and a route avoiding the western highlands and Cumbria would be sensible if you want to stay relatively dry. But our climate is always changeable, and some years September can be glorious, and in terms of its temperature is likely to be one of the best months for any long British ride.

[Jamesh]

Why would you jogle?!

Get the prevailing winds in face.

Get the best scenery first and then England!

Get hills of Cornwall when your most knackered.....

Cheers James

[PH]

Why would you jogle?!

Get the prevailing winds in face.

Get the best scenery first and then England!

Cheers James

Easier transport
In the summer months the prevailing factor is hardly noticeable
Strong winds are more likely to come from the North
I'm not sure about the best scenery

The bit we agree on is
Get hills of Cornwall when your most knackered.....
But is it a plus or a minus? if you're a strong rider then getting it done might be a good thing, if you're someone who needs more recovery time you wouldn't want another 900 miles. If you ride JoG to say Oakhampton, and you've had enough, you know it's nearly over and although you might not be having fun it'd have to be bad to pack at that point. If you're knackered coming out of Devon heading North, JoG will seem a long way off.

[LittleGreyCat]

One reason to JOGLE is the potentially gentler start in terms of hills.
There are a couple of weeks of training before you get to the tough bit at the end.
It is also tempting to do the less fashionable direction.

I think by the end of September the weather in the South West may have deteriorated less than that in the North East, as well.

Edit: without a need to do it in a set time (like 100 miles a day for 10 days) I could always plan in some very short days at the end.

[Mick F]

Having lived in both the East and the West of Scotland, the better weather generally, is in the early summer. May/June. Come September, and you're into the changeable and cool/damp.

Story Alert!
Our two little girls in 1982 and us, moved to Helensburgh in late August having been in the balmy SW of Devon for a while.
We moved house in summery clothes - the girls in dresses and sandals.
Within a week or two, we had to buy coats, hats and wellies for them. The climate difference was really marked. Come the late spring, and it was like chalk and cheese. Gorgeous weather though not as warm as Down South.
Lived there for two and a half years then, and it was like that each year.

Yonks before, we lived in East Scotland six years back then from 1974 to 1980. Much drier over that side, but still Spring comes late and Autumn comes early.

[rareposter]

Maybe I've been lucky but all my LEJOGs have been in early September and I've done a fair bit of cycle touring in Scotland around that time too (outside of any LEJOGing) and while there's been a couple of bad days, I've had far more good weather than bad. First time I did LEJOG in 2012, we had about 3 out of 5 days coming up through England as rainy, cold, miserable - one day (up through Preston) was torrential early on although it brightened up by the time we got up past Lancaster. And then Glasgow, Crow Road, Rannoch Moor was bleak and rainy and howling headwind. The final two days were stunning - warm and sunny, views to die for, gentle tailwind. Best days by a long way. Goes to show how much the weather can change even in 24hrs.

September 2016 when I was touring up there - I was lying on a beach north of Ullapool in shorts, riding in a SS jersey. Sunglasses and factor 30 on. Blue skies all round!

I don't really think you can put too much store in the UK weather; it's so affected by even minor ripples in the jet stream and obviously climate change is having a fairly major effect on what "usually" happens. If you waited until the "right" weather, you'd probably never leave the house! It is what it is, I just go with the flow now.

[JoeP89]

I left Lands End on the 3rd of September this year (2019) and arrived at John o Groats on the 22nd of September (Sustrans 1,200 mile route) and I've got to say, that the weather was fantastic. First 3 days was a heat wave, 4th it chucked it down all day and then stopped around 4pm to give me just enough time to dry out before setting the tent up to sleep.

Days, 5, 6 and 7 were back to sunny/cloudy intervals. Day 8 was rain again, then literally back to sun the next day. The next 10 days included only one wet day and 9 sunny/cloudy days.

I ended the trip with a 4 day heat wave in Scotland and the last day (even though it was glorious sunshine) the wind did try its best to keep me from reaching the John o Groats summit!

September 2019 (3rd to 22nd) for me, involved 2 wet days, one seriously wet wet day and 16 days of sun!

[Jamesh]

Well done mate sounds like an epic ride.

Please do a full narrative for us pre or post lejog riders!!!

Cheers James

[Paulatic]

Pleased you had good weather it must make a huge difference to the experience.
Imagine if you’d set off a week later and had the rain we’ve had this last week? I spotted a camping JOGLEr pulling out of Moffat on Friday morning looking like a drowned rat so early in the day.