Summer 2019 - Warmer and wetter than average

WET AND WARM SUMMER

Despite a promising start in June and early July, a record breaking heatwave giving us our hottest UK day on record (25th July) and a record breaking August Bank Holiday, the Summer not only turned out to be warmer than average, but a lot wetter than average too.

Just a few days after the heatwave peaked, July ended with some fairly dramatic weather on Sunday 28th, with a months worth of rain falling within 48 hours in some places - and in part contributing to the damage at Toddbrook Reservoir above Whaley Bridge, that drove people out of their homes for almost a week.

Provisional statistics, from The Met Office, bring this years Summer (for the UK as a whole) 153% wetter than average despite being almost a full degree above the long term average in terms of warmth.

The Summer was finalised by a rather disappointing August. A decent dose of sunshine, temperatures above average, some very heavy showers!

SOGGY AUGUST DESPITE FINE BANK HOLIDAY

August for the North West was wet for almost every Met Office data site except Nantwich in Cheshire, which only had 80% of the average rainfall. Rochdale in Lancashire had 164% and Levens Hall in Cumbria 152%. A little further north, just out of the Granada region, parts of Cumbria had over twice as much of the expected August rainfall - Spadeadam a whopping 259.5%!!!!

The coastline faired better in August, as many of the showers bubbled up and built inland. Crosby was our warmest place with a mean 24hr max of 17.5ºC, making it 1.2 degrees above the long term average. Morecambe was the sunniest with 215.7hour of sunshine, 120% of the average for this part of the region.

We are now in the meteorological Autumn......let's see what September brings.