Summer soaking gives wettest week since last October

A rainbow over Rushden in Northamptonshire. Credit: Mervyn Wood

Daily torrential downpours have given the Anglia region its wettest week since the autumn of 2015.

The region saw seven consecutive days of weather warnings for heavy rain from Saturday 11 June to Friday 17 June 2016.

The rainfall total averaged across the Anglia region during the week was 35 mm (1.4 inches) which was the highest seven-day total since 40 mm (1.6 inches) in mid October 2015.

However some areas had much higher rainfall totals including Santon Downham in Suffolk where 90 mm (3.5 inches) of rain fell during the week.

Many areas saw flash flooding during the week including Milton Keynes where the Stantonbury Campus school was closed when rainwater flooding the site and buildings.

There were lightning strikes across the region and multiple funnel clouds, the forerunners of tornadoes.

A funnel cloud photographed at East Winch in West Norfolk on 15 June 2016. Credit: Jim Swalwell

It has been a cool and wet start to summer in the Anglia region.

Daytime maximum temperatures during the first 18 days of June have been about 1 degree Celsius below the monthly average. Highs have been averaging 18-19°C.

The rainfall total for the month so far is around 44 mm, which is nearly 40% above normal.

It has also been less than sunny. The daily sunshine total in the Anglia region has been less than four hours. A normal June day would see 6½ hours of sunshine.

The village green at South Creake in Norfolk was awash on Tuesday 14 June 2016. Credit: Kassandra Wells

Weekly rainfall totals in the Anglia region 11-17 June 2016

  • 90 mm at Santon Downham, Suffolk

  • 68 mm at Monks Wood near Sawtry, Cambridgeshire

  • 58 mm at Wattisham, Suffolk

  • 54 mm at Tibenham, Norfolk

  • 48 mm at Woburn, Bedfordshire

  • 46 mm at Charsfield, Suffolk

  • 42 mm at Writtle, Essex

  • 39 mm at Wittering, Cambridgeshire

  • 32 mm in Northampton

  • 25 mm at Stowe, Buckinghamshire

  • 13 mm at Harpenden, Hertfordshire