THE QUIET, dry weather of late August continued
for the first three weeks of September, although rain returned
to north-western Britain after the middle of the month.
An active cold front crossed the country on the 24th, and
much of the last week was unseasonably cool, especially
in eastern and central parts of the UK.
Winds from the north-west and north were much more frequent
than usual, and as a consequence this was the seventh most "northerly" September
in 135 years of records. Mean monthly temperature was within
0.5°C of the average over most of Scotland and Northern
Ireland, and 0.5-1°C
above normal over England and Wales.
Overall, it was the coolest since 2001, highlighting the
warmth of recent Septembers, and it actually ranked 39
warmest in the past 100 years . The month's highest individual
reading at a standard site was 25.8°C at Howden in the East
Riding of Yorkshire on the 7th, while the lowest was -3.6°C
overnight 26th/27th at Saughall, Ayrshire. The maximum
temperature recorded at Lyneham was on the 5th when thermometers
peaked 22.7°C. The monthly average was 0.4°C above the norm.
A strong north wind brought very cold weather between
the 26th and 28th, and on the 26th notwithstanding sunny
periods, the temperature climbed no higher than 7.1°C at
Braemar, Aberdeenshire, and 7.7°C at Carter Bar, Roxburghshire.
Rainfall was below normal in all regions of the UK, and
only a few scattered locations in the north and west of
Scotland, north-west England and north Wales reached their
local averages. For England and Wales, the month's total
of 1.71in was 48 per cent below average, and the lowest
since 2003; there
have been only 19 drier Septembers in the past 100 years.
Scotland's rainfall for the month was 23 per. cent below
normal and Northern Ireland's 44 per cent below. Monthly
totals ranged from just 0.32in at Lyneham, Wiltshire, to
9.29in at Capel Curig in Snowdonia. Lyneham's low monthly
rainfall figure was 13 per cent of the norm but does
not beat
the lowest recorded total in 1959 where 5mm of rain
fell during the 30 day period.
Sunshine was running some 20 per cent above average by
the middle of the month, but there was a good deal of cloudy
weather during the last fortnight. Averaged over England
and Wales, the month's total was 152 hours - just five
per cent above the long-term mean.
Scotland's sunshine was exactly normal, as was Northern
Ireland's. Monthly totals ranged from 213 hours at Jersey
airport to 60 hours at Kirkwall, Orkney. Lyneham's monthly
total sunshine figures were 110% of the avarage topping
159 hours, where 12.3 hours of sunshine was recorded on
the 4th.
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