Category: News

The statistics for October show another cool and wet month. The mean temperature was 1.1C below the long-term average, the coldest since 2008, with the lowest mean maximum temperature since 1993 at -1.4C. It was the fifth coldest October since 1984. The warmest day was the 1st with a lowly maximum of just 16.8C and only seven days struggled above the mean for the month. The first air frosts of the autumn occurred on three mornings with the lowest temperature on the 14th at -1.7C.
A total of 121mm of precipitation was recorded being 141% of the long-term average and the wettest October since 2006. The long-term average is 88mm but since 1984 seven years have produced totals above 120mm with the record set in 2004 which had a total of 159mm. There were three days with significant rainfall totals namely 20.1mm, 18.1mm and 16.6mm on the 17th, 31st and 5th respectively. Not surprisingly there were only six totally dry days.
The solar energy, due to the many overcast days, was just 87% of the last few years.
There were six days with morning fog but several others when low cloud persisted producing misty conditions.

September proved to be another disappointing month with depressed temperatures. The mean maximum was 0.3C below the long-term average and the mean minimum was 1.2C below. There were a few warm days at the beginning of the month but after the 10th mostly cool days prevailed. A maximum of 25.3C was reached on the 9th. No air frosts occurred but several mornings produced a ground frost with the lowest air temperature at 1.8C on the 22nd. September was the first month since May when the total rainfall of 59.5mm was lower than the long-term average at 95%. However, almost half the monthly total fell on the 23rd with 31.7mm. This was the third greatest daily rainfall for September after 1988 and 1984 with 32.4mm and 35.6mm respectively.
A September record was set on the 24th when the barometric pressure dropped to a very low 984.4Mb. Another record was set for the diurnal maximum temperature (daily range between minimum and maximum) with a difference of 25.3C. In contrast to the disappointing month, the solar energy was surprisingly 9% above the average for the last four years.

August: The last summer month of 2012 also proved to be another disappointing summer month as the mean maximum temperature was 0.3C below the long-term average. Conversely, the mean minimum was 1.2C above the long-term average due to the considerable cloud cover at night, as well as the day time, reducing heat loss. The maximum was recorded on the 19th at 27.5C, well below the August record of 35.2C set in 1990. Rainfall was the most notable feature with a total of 108.8mm making it the fourth wettest August since my records began in 1984, the record being made in 1992 with 139.5mm. Interestingly, high totals were also recorded in recent years with 104.3mm in 2008 and 107.7mm in 2012. There were very heavy daily falls of rain during August with 22.7mm, 19.1mm, 14,2mm and 12.5mm on the 29th, 4th, 5th and 15th respectively. Thunder was noted on three days and a thunderstorm broke on the 21st. Fog occurred on one morning.
Summer: The mean of 15.8C was 0.2C below the long-term average. As occurred in August, the mean maximum was below the long-term average, a considerable -1.4C, but the mean minimum was 0.9C above the long-term average. Again the the major feature was the considerable rainfall. With a total of 328mm, it was the wettest summer period that I have recorded at 183% of the long-term average and supercedes the previous record of 305mmm set in the summer of 2007.

July did not prove to be the summer month to which we all looked forward. With the mean temperature 2.0C below the long-term average, it was a cool month. This was principally due to depressed daytime temperatures as the nights were close to the long-term average. The mean maximum temperature was not equalled until the 22nd when we experienced a brief spell of days with much sunshine and high temperatures. The hottest day was the 22nd when the thermometer peaked at 28.8C. In contrast, the coldest day was the 2nd when a maximum of only 15.3C was reached.
It was also a very wet month with the total rainfall of 91.6mm being 155% of the long-term average. The wettest day was the 6th with 20.5mm but substantial falls were recorded on the 3rd, 7th and 12th with 11.2mm, 10.6mm and 12.1mm respectively. There were only eleven dry days.
Winds were generally light with the highest gust of 26mph recorded on the 2nd.
Compared with recent years the sunshine was only 95% of the average and solar energy 93%.
There were two days when thunder was heard, on the 6th and 11th. A funnel cloud was observed for quite a time to the north of the town on the 5th.

The disappointing summer continued into June with frequent depressions sweeping across the country. Consequently, the mean temperature was 0.5C below the long-term average with very few warm days and the coldest June since 1994. The maximum occurred on the 28th when the peak temperature registered was 26.7C. In contrast, on the 11th the thermometer struggled to a maximum of only 11.5C when the average is 20.3C.There were no air frosts during the month although on two nights the temperature dipped close to 4C.
The most significant feature was the amount of rain that fell. With a total of 127.9mm, it was the second wettest June I have recorded, which was 232% of the long-term average. The record was set back in June 1998 with 143.2mm. The wettest day was the 11th with 23.4mm and there were five additional days when totals ran into double figures. Not surprisingly there were only eight dry days.
It was also a very windy month, providing a record for the average wind speed over the month. On two days, 7th and 16th, I recorded maximum gusts of 40mph and six other days with maxima in excess of 30mph.
The solar energy was 74% of the average and bright sunshine also low with 88% of the average.