June 2012 and the washout continues.

view from the bottom of my garden

The first month of summer gone and with the first two week of July following the same dismal pattern, what is happening with our weather that is making this summer the worst I can remember?

jet streams affecting our weather

According to the Met Office, averaged across the UK, June 2012 has been the wettest since records began in 1910, the coolest since 1991, and the second dullest since records began (record for lowest sunshine in June is still 1987)




Its all down the the jet stream, the band of high winds in the upper atmosphere that forms a boundary between the cool air in the north and warm air in the south, its sitting to the south of the UK which is not its normal position and is driving wave after wave of low pressure systems that continue to deluge us with rain, and its been like this for three months now!


Here in Hawley I recorded 95.4 mm of rain, the highest total since I started keeping records in 2005, and to confirm the lack of sunshine the mean temperature for the month was a poor 14.5C, some 1.5C lower than my June average, it all adds up to a miserable summer so far.


As I mentioned above, up to mid- July the story is the same with 55.6 mm of rain recorded so far.
There are signs that the jet stream is starting to move north allowing High pressure to build from the south so I am hopeful for a drier (and warmer) final two weeks and a substantially better August to rescue our summer!


June Stats:
High temp: 28.9 
Low temp:    3.8
Rain:          95.4mm
High wind:   37.0mph