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graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 608     For  AUGUST  2006
  A 'NORTHWESTERLY' MONTH; COOL AND CLOUDY FROM THE 9TH, VERY WET IN EASTERN ENGLAND
Text Box: Mean sea-level pressure was below normal over most of Europe and above normal over much of the northern Atlantic. Over the British Isles, the anomaly ranged from -1mbar in western Ireland to -5mbar in East Anglia. Northwesterly winds blew remarkably frequently; in fact the northerly component of the mean flow over the UK was higher than in any other August in over 130 years of records. A depression over Scotland early on the 1st moved slowly towards the Baltic with a northerly flow in its wake. Most regions became cooler than at any stage in July, and although maxima of 20-22°C were still common in southern England, Glenlivet (Moray) reached only 12.6°C on the 3rd. There was heavy rain in Scotland and eastern England: Tulloch Bridge (Lochaber) collected 57mm on the 31st/1st and Cromer (Norfolk) 59mm on the 1st/2nd with serious flooding in nearby Sheringham. It was warmer between the 3rd and 8th as a strong ridge from the Azores high extended across the UK; most places enjoyed long sunny spells and the temperature peaked at 28.2°C at Aboyne (Aberdeen-shire) on the 5th and 28.9°C at Church Lawford (Warwicks) on the 6th, but there were a few thunderstorms on the 6th and 7th with flooding in Eastbourne on the 7th. High pressure took up residence in mid-Atlantic from the 9th allowing a northwest-erly flow to develop over the British Isles. It quickly turned cooler with a high of 12.5°C at Altnaharra (Sutherland). A depression moving down the North Sea delivered heavy rain to most eastern districts on the 11th and 12th and ushered in a very unsettled period which, with only the briefest of breaks, lasted till the end of the month. Flooding in north Kent on the 12th followed 50-60mm of rain in the Sheppey/ Faversham/Sittingbourne area, and serious but short-lived flooding affected west Surrey the next day when thunderstorms deposited 100mm at several places between Farnham and Old Windsor including 118mm at Virginia Water. Boltshope Park (Durham) reported a maximum of just 11.2°C on the 13th while Braemar (Aberdeenshire) recorded a minimum of 2.0°C overnight 15th/16th. Text Box: There were further heavy falls of 50-60mm in Cornwall on the 16th/17th and in Ayrshire and Cumbria on the 18th as a new depression became slow-moving in the Southwest Approaches. The fortnight 8th-21st was exceptionally cloudy over much of Scotland and eastern England: at Aviemore (Inverness-shire) the aggregate sunshine for that period was 11.2h, of which only 2.5h was recorded between the 11th and 20th inclusive. Atlantic disturbances tracking eastwards across the UK maintained the unsettled theme between the 21st and 26th, and it was particularly wet over England and Wales on the 23rd and at first on the 24th. A showery northwesterly flow became established between the 25th and 29th with hail and thunder occurring widely, and a number of short-lived tornadoes were reported, but sunshine was rather more plentiful in most areas. Braemar again recorded a minimum of 2.0°C early on the 28th. A transitory ridge on the 30th was followed by further Atlantic fronts on the 31st: Capel Curig (Snowdonia) collected 81mm of rain in the 48h starting 09z on the 30th. Mean maximum temperature was 0.5-1.0 degC below normal over most of the UK while the mean minimum was typically 0.5-1.0 degC above, but as measured by the CET it was the coolest August since 1999. The month’s absolute maximum was below 30°C for the first time in August since 1993 and nowhere in the UK reached 25°C after the 9th. Sunshine was in short supply almost everywhere except along the English Channel coast, over England and Wales as a whole it was the dullest August since 1986, while in northern Scotland Kirkwall (Orkney) totalled just 61h and Stornoway (W.Isles) 64h, both new low station records as far as one can judge since the change of sensor. It was a very wet August in eastern England but a dry one in the West Country, percentages ranging from over 250 at several places in East Anglia, Kent, Sussex and Surrey to less than 30 locally in Dorset.
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