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graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 620     For  AUGUST  2007
  A RATHER COOL MONTH; DRY AND BRIGHT EARLY AND LATE, BUT DULL AND WET MID-MONTH
Text Box: Pressure was relatively high across southern Britain until the 11th but a changeably westerly flow affected Scotland. Between the 11th and 20th the weather was often cyclonic, then, following a few days of north-easterlies, an anticyclonic/north-westerly type prevailed from the 25th onwards. Over the entire month, mean sea-level pressure ranged from 2mbar below normal in Shetland to 2mbar below in western Ireland, and it was the equal-fourth most ‘northerly’ August in 135 years of records. Relatively high pressure maintained generally fine weather over much of England and Wales until the 11th and it was very warm from the 3rd to the 5th with highs of 23-27°C, peaking at 29.7°C on the 5th at Coningsby and Holbeach (both Lincs). Nights were generally cool during this period, but that of 3rd/4th was very warm in northeast England, and Linton-on-Ouse (North Yorks) logged a minimum that night of 18.4°C. There were scattered showers and local thunderstorms on the 5th and 6th, but many places stayed dry throughout this period, and Portland (Dorset) recorded a total of 130 hours of bright sunshine over the eleven days. By contrast, the weather in Scotland and Northern Ireland was quite disturbed during the first week with frequent rain and blustery winds: 52mm fell at Fyvie (Aberdeenshire) on the 4th and 55mm at Stornoway (Western Isles) on the 5th, and Stornoway also recorded a peak gust of 54kn on the 7th. A deepening depression tracked northeast across Ireland and Scotland on the 12th/13th, a vigorous depression followed a similar path on the 14th followed by a couple of days of northwesterly winds, a third depression tracked slowly east across central Ireland and northern England on the 18th/19th, while a fourth travelled south-eastwards across Wales and southwest England on the 20th. The weather during this period was rather cool and unsettled in all regions with frequent rain, heavy in places, fresh to strong winds at times, and a shortage of sunshine. Local flooding Text Box: followed storms in Norwich district on the 19th, around Torbay on the 20th and in Folkestone on the 21st. A cold north to north-easterly flow in the wake of one of the depressions resulted in notably low maxima on the 19th including 10.1°C at Carterhouse (Roxburghshire) and 10.6°C at Okehampton (Devon), and there was a widespread ground frost the following night in Scotland with a lowest air minimum of –0.9°C at Tulloch Bridge (Lochaber). From the 21st-24th a north-easterly airflow brought cold and cloudy weather to much of eastern England – Wattisham (Suffolk) recorded five consecutive days with no sunshine starting on the 20th, and a limited search suggests that this may be without precedent in lowland Britain in August – while western and northern parts of the UK were very warm at times with long sunny spells. From the 25th until the end of the month a large anticyclone was centred just west or southwest of Ireland, maintaining generally dry weather although northern and western Scotland were more changeable. It was very warm over England and Wales on the 25th with 28.0°C at Shobdon (Herefs), but temperatures fell away during the remaining days of the month and sunshine was variable rather than plentiful. Both mean maximum and mean minimum temperature for the month were between 0 and 1degC below the respective 1971-2000 averages, and over much of the UK it was the coolest August since 1993. Rainfall was above average over most of Scotland, Northern Ireland, northwest England and also parts of the East Anglia and the Southeast, but it was a dry August elsewhere; a large part of the southwest Midlands received less than 30mm. Sunshine totals were 10-30% below normal in parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, northwest England, East Anglia and Kent, but up to 25% above locally in northeast England, the Midlands, and the West Country.
                                                                                                                                             
                       TEMPERATURE                                SUNSHINE                             RAINFALL