AFTER months of rain and one of the coldest springs on record, summer has finally arrived in Nottingham.
Over the last few days the city has been basking in warm, dry weather, but rewind to this time last year and things could not be more different.
In London, 2012, more than a million spectators had to brave miserable wind and rain in order to catch a glimpse of the Royal Family setting sail in a Thames flotilla to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
The gloomy weather was the same in other areas of the country too, with some parts of Notts experiencing up to 18mm of rain on June, 3, 2012 – and temperatures of just 12 degrees centigrade.
Andrew Shaw, a weather enthusiast from Stapleford, believes that this month could turn out to be much nicer than May.
He said: "June is often one of the wettest months of the year, often much wetter than May but this May has been wetter than usual so maybe the roles will be reversed and June will be drier for a change."
Gail Sprake, 45, of Top Valley, was among the hundreds of people making the most of the sunshine in the Old Market Square yesterday.
She said: "The sun makes a big difference, makes you liven up a bit. I am hoping we are going to see more of this over the summer."
Julie Parker, 65, of Long Eaton, brought her five-year-old grandson to play in the fountains.
She said: "The weather today is lovely. I am hoping it stays. I am enjoying the sun whilst my grandson plays."
But the sunny weather does come with one drawback – grass pollen counts for Notts are set to soar this week.
Tomorrow is set to be the coolest day of the week, before temperatures climb back to 20 degrees centigrade on Thursday and Friday.
