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graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 605       For     MAY      2006
                     VERY WARM FIRST HALF;  VERY WET SECOND HALF
Text Box: A mainly southeasterly type prevailed for much of the first half of the month, but from the 15th-28th a cyclonic type held sway. The month ended with a short northerly outbreak. Mean sea-level pressure for May was below normal over all parts of the British Isles, anomalies ranging from -0.5mbar in Kent to -3.5mbar along the west coast of Ireland. The trough responsible for the general rain overnight 30th/1st moved quickly away, and with pressure low to the west of Ireland a changeable south to southeasterly flow covered the UK until the 7th. Further rain and strong winds affected Scotland and Northern Ireland on the first two days of the month, but elsewhere the weather was fair if rather cool. It then became much warmer: on the 3rd the temperature reached 21°C in Kent, the UK’s first 20+ maximum of the year and the latest date to cross this threshold since 1983. The 4th was hot and sunny in central and eastern districts with a high of 27.7°C at Northolt (NW London), and this was the earliest date to reach such a high level since 1995, but heavy thunderstorms broke out across central and western Scotland IN the afternoon. The next few days were rather warm but unsettled; heavy rain affected eastern England on the 6th with 42.2mm at Wattisham (Suffolk), and southern counties on 7th with 35.0mm at Swanage (Dorset). High pressure migrating from Scandinavia to Iceland was the dominant feature during the second week, but a thundery trough was never far from southern districts. From the 8th-11th northern Britain was sunny and very warm with 24.8°C at Sloy (Argyll) on the 11th, but sharp thunderstorms affected southern England and south Wales on the afternoons of both the 10th and 11th, and after some warm sunshine with 24.8°C at Northolt, storms broke out more widely on the 12th. Air of Arctic origin now penetrated Scotland and northern England bringing a dramatic drop in temperature, and there was a widespread frost here overnight 13th/14th with a minimum of -5.5°C at Kinbrace (Sutherland). Text Box: A changeable southwesterly type developed from the 15th, and a series of unusually vigorous depressions crossed the UK between the 17th and 22nd bringing frequent heavy rain and unseasonably strong winds, gusting at times to 50-60kn along the English Channel and Bristol Channel coasts. Capel Curig (Snowdonia) collected 124mm of rain during this five-day period. Broadly speaking daytime temperatures were near normal, but nights were often warm especially in southern districts; however, a brief Arctic intrusion resulted in a maximum of just 4.8°C at Boltshope Park (Durham) on the 22nd, and a minimum of -3.9°C at Tulloch Bridge (Lochaber) the following night. Heavy rain returned to southern Britain on the 24th with 43.8mm at Milford Haven (Pembrokeshire). The airflow veered westerly from the 25th-27th, and then northwesterly from the 28th onwards as pressure built strongly, initially to the west of Ireland, and then over the UK as the month closed. The weather became cool and showery, some of the showers accompanied by hail and thunder, and there was widespread ground frost and local air frost by night. Many western districts became dry and sunny from the 28th, and much of Britain was fine on the 31st. A month of two halves, May 2006 is perhaps best summarised as having the warmest first half since 1945 and the wettest second half since 1979. Over the entire month, mean temperature ranged from 1.5 degC above the long-term average in East Anglia and the Midlands to within 0.5degC of the average in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Large parts of England and Wales had twice the normal amount of rain (three times in Pembrokeshire and Kent) but scattered locations in northern and eastern Scotland were slightly drier than normal. It was an exceptionally sunny May in Shetland (a 60% excess at Lerwick) but a very cloudy one in southern and central parts of England and Wales (nearly 30% below locally).
                                                                                                                                             
                       TEMPERATURE                                SUNSHINE                             RAINFALL