A little sunshine and several minor showers marked Tuesday with just 1.0mm of rainfall recorded as the heavy showers again passed either side of this area. The westerly breeze, quite brisk gusting to 20mph, meant that the thermometer only just rose above the average with a peak of 17.2C followed by a very cool night with a low of 5.3C.
Wednesday arrived with limited breaks in the cloud to provide brief glimpses of the sun.
May 2022 Review
After the very dry April many gardeners were hoping for rain at the start of the new month. However, the very dry spell continued until many hours of steady rain fell on the 11th with 10.6mm.
Before this event an Azores ‘high’ developed that brought many warm days peaking at 21.9C on the 9th, which was 4.4C above the 38-year average.
Warm air from North Africa arrived a little later that saw the thermometer climb a little higher peaking at 22.1C on the 14th.
During the night of the 14th a disturbance moved northwards from the Continent. However, from the two intense approaching rain bands, one in the late evening moved to the west of this area and in the second a little later, in the early hours of the 15th, passed to the east depositing just 1.6mm. However, later in the day intense rain arrived that produced a daily total of 13.5mm, the wettest day for two months.
Showers continued all day on the 15th that produced 13.5mm making it the wettest day since 16th March (16.4mm).
There were occasional very warm days in the changeable weather from the 15th with the warmest day of the month on the 17th when the thermometer soared to 23.1C being 5.6C above the 38-year average.
The following day produced the second wettest day of the month with 10.9mm.
During the very warm, dry days the equivalent rainfall of over 3mm was lost due to evaporation from the ground and plant life with a considerable 4.11mm lost on the 22nd.
The month finished on a cool note. The breeze from the northerly quarter meant cooler days and nights with a maximum of only 15.4C on the 30th being 2.1C below the 38-year average.
A depression settled, but cool days and nights, over the area from the 30th that brought changeable weather with sunshine and showers.
The month proved to be warmer than average with a mean temperature being 1.7C above the 38-year average. Separating day from night the mean daytime temperature was +1.5C and the mean night-time temperature was +1.9C. The latter due to no air frosts occurring, the first frost-free May since 2015. The coolest night of the month occurred in the early hours of the 6th when the thermometer fell to 3.9C.
It was the second warmest May I have recorded with a mean of 13.75C against 13.73C in 2017 and 13.50C in 2008. The trend for the mean May temperature has shown a steady rise since the late 1990s being 1.2C above that in the earlier years. The graphs on the website show this trend very clearly.
It was yet another month in 2022 with below average rainfall. The total rainfall was exactly 53mm, which was 7.7mm below the 38-year average and the fourth below average month this year. In fact, there is a deficit of 113mm for the first five months set against the long-term average.
There were 16 dry days, exactly average for May, with three very wet days that made up the bulk of the monthly rainfall. A daily rainfall total of 10.6mm, 13.5mm and 10.9mm fell on the 11th, 15th and 18th respectively.
Not only was there a rainfall deficit but a loss of equivalent rainfall due to evaporation from ground sources and plant life that amounted to 81.6mm.
Thunder occurred late in the evening of the 18th between 22.00 and 22.25 and the early hours of the 18th (00.25). Fog was observed in the early morning of the 2nd.