Dry June days are a distant memory, but
the first fortnight was often warm and sunny.. then the
downpour began.
It is easy to forget that the first 12 days of June were
dry in all parts of the country, and most southern, central
and western parts of the UK were warm and sunny as well.
Easterly winds, though, maintained cool, cloudy weather
along North Sea coasts.
The rains did not start until the 13th, but most of us
have had some rain, either a little or a lot, on every
single day since then. The mean monthly daytime temperature
was below the long-term average in northern and eastern
Scotland and northeast England, but all other parts of
the country were 0.5-1.5°C warmer than average.
The average night-time temperature was 1.5-2°C above
average in all parts of the UK The month's highest individual
reading
was 27.2°C (81°F) at Prestatyn in northeast Wales
on the 11th, while the lowest was -2.5°C (27.5°F)
overnight 13th/14th at Kinbrace in Sutherland. At Aviemore
on the 25th the
afternoon maximum was a mere 8.8°C (47.8°F) - an
unusually low figure for late-June. Lyneham's highest recorded
temperature this month was on the 10th where thermometers
reached 24.4°C. The lowest temperature was 6.1°C
on the 1st June. Despite the rain, the average mean temperature
for June was 0.9°C above normal at 19.4°C.
Averaged nationally, last month failed to break the 11
wettest June record by some margin, although many
places in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands established
new local records. Over England and Wales, the month's
total of 5.12in was 90 per cent above the average, and
the highest since 1997.
There have been seven wetter Junes in the past 240 years,
and that of 1860 was deluged with 6.18in. It was not a
wet month quite everywhere: the extreme north of Scotland
was exceptionally dry, and Shetland and Orkney registered
barely half an inch of rain. Monthly totals ranged from
0.38in at Baltasound in Shetland to 11.05in at Wilsden
in West Yorkshire. The monthly rainfall at Lyneham was
97mm which is 167% of the average, but it did not beat
the record for June 1971 where 145mm of rain fell.
In spite of several sunny days during the first half of
June, monthly sunshine aggregates fell short of the average
very nearly everywhere, although Tiree (245 hours) in the
Inner Hebrides exceeded the local average by 20 per cent.
Averaged nationally, it was the gloomiest June since 1998.
Along the east coast from Norfolk to Orkney the shortfall
was unprecedented. The lowest monthly totals were 62 hours
at Edinburgh and 70 hours at both Leuchars (Fife) and Aberdeen
- less than 40 per cent of the norm. In Aberdeen, December
last year was appreciably sunnier with an aggregate of
88 hours. The rain clouds certainly blocked the Lyneham
sunshine and we only recorded 166 hours total for the month
81 per cent of the average. The sunniest day was the 2nd
June where cloudless skies allowed 15 hours of sun. |
