back
graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 606       For     JUNE    2006
       WARMEST SINCE 1976, DRIEST SINCE 1995, AND SUNNIEST SINCE 1996
Text Box: Mean monthly sea-level pressure was above normal over most of Europe including the British Isles. The first half of the month was very anticyclonic, and although the second half was rather more changeable there was no extended spell of cyclonic or westerly weather. In the last 30 years only the Junes of 1995 and 1988 were more anticyclonic. High pressure lay over the UK until the 9th and to the east of the country from the 10th-12th; it then returned to the UK as a weakening feature from the 13th-17th. A weak front gave eastern England a grey, damp day on the 1st, and there was some rain in the Western Isles on the 2nd and 3rd, but broadly-speaking the first ten days of June were dry, sunny and warm with only very isolated thundery showers. Sunshine totals for this period exceeded 135 hours in southwest Wales and the West Country and 140 hours in the Channel Islands. Maxima of 24-28°C occurred widely from the 4th onwards. The 11th and 12th were the hottest days of the month with 31.4°C at Heathrow airport on the latter afternoon, while during the intervening night a notably high minimum of 19.9°C was logged at St James’s Park (London). However, thunderstorms broke out in many western and central districts, with local flooding reported from south Devon and golf-ball sized hail from Coventry on the 12th, further storms broke out across central and eastern counties on the 13th, and prolonged steady rain affected Essex, Kent and Sussex on the 14th. Showers on the 16th ended a period of 18 consecutive days with no significant rain in Northern Ireland. Elsewhere, most places became dry and warm again for a few days, the temperature reaching 28°C in the London area on the afternoon of the 17th. Text Box: A low pressure centre crossed Scotland on the 19th, and a further, more vigorous, depression moved slowly eastwards to the north of Scottish mainland between the 20th and 22nd, its central pressure dropping to 976mbar. It became cooler, windier and more changeable in all regions, and on the 21st gusts over 50kn were recorded in many parts of Scotland. A slack pressure gradient covered the country between the 23rd and 25th and it became warm and thundery again in southern regions and an impressive funnel cloud was observed on Dartmoor on the latter date, but Scotland turned cool and sunny. The 26th was rather cool everywhere, and storms deposited 82mm of rain in Penzance resulting in local flooding; meanwhile, the temperature dropped to –1.7°C at Kinbrace (Sutherland) early on the 26th, and Tiree (Inner Hebrides) recorded 47 hours of sunshine in three days to the 27th. A sluggish southerly airflow brought progressively higher temperatures during the closing days of the month, with 29.1°C logged at Heathrow on the 30th. Mean temperature anomaly ranged from +1degC in northern and western Scotland to +2.5degC in the Midlands, making it widely the warmest June since 1976, although 2003 was about as warm. It was the driest June over England and Wales since 1995 and at a local level for much longer, and only 3mm fell during the entire month at St Catherine’s Point (Isle of Wight) and 4mm at Benson (Oxon). Sunshine duration, averaged over England and Wales, was the highest in June since 1996; some large totals were obtained on the English Channel coast including 321 hours at Shanklin (Isle of Wight) and 317 hours at Eastbourne (Sussex).
                                                                                                                                         
                       TEMPERATURE                                SUNSHINE                             RAINFALL        
                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                 
                                          Highest and lowest totals                     Highest and lowest totals        
                                              on record for month    
Maximum fall in 24 hrs (beginning 09 h)
                    on record for month    
Days with snow or sleet
 
Days with fog (Vis <220 yards at 09 h)