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graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 631       For     JULY    2008
        COOL AND VERY WET AT FIRST; WARM OCCASIONALLY THUNDERY LAST TEN DAYS
Text Box: A cyclonic type held sway until the 11th, followed by ten days of mainly northwesterly winds. From the 22nd onwards brief anticyclonic, southeasterly and cyclonic episodes followed each other in quick succession. Mean monthly pressure was below normal over all parts of the British Isles, anomalies ranging from -1.5mbar in Shetland to -7mbar in southwest Ireland, and the anomalous flow over the UK was south to southeasterly. The 1st was a sunny and warm day in central and eastern districts with 27.3°C reached at Heathrow airport and 15.6h of bright sunshine at Buxton (Norfolk), but western and northern Britain were rather windy with outbreaks of rain. It turned cooler generally from the 2nd onwards and the next few days brought scattered heavy showers and local thunder. A deep depression tracked slowly northeast across England and Wales between the 5th and 7th, giving widespread rain, heavy in places, and there were further thunderstorms especially in southern districts. The wind gusted to 52kn at Scilly on the 5th, and afternoon highs were generally between 14 and 18°C. A further depression followed a similar track between the 9th and 11th; on the 9th alone 40mm of rain fell at Lochranza (Isle of Arran), while Okehampton (Devon) recorded 150mm between the 1st and 11th. It was remained exceptionally cool especially in northern and eastern districts and the day’s maximum on the 11th at Fylingdales (North Yorks) was just 11.2°C. In the wake of that depression a cool northwesterly flow developed, and most places had scattered showers and sunny intervals by day although it was cold at night with local ground frost; early on the 13th the temperature dropped to 0.8°C at Katesbridge (Co Down). The wind backed briefly into the southwest on the 15th which was much warmer as a consequence - 26.4°C at Coningsby (Lincs) - but the northwesterlies resumed the next day and the weather again became cool and showery between the 16th and 21st.
Text Box: On the 19th the afternoon maximum at Loch Glascarnoch (Wester Ross) was 11.0°C. Between the 3rd and 20th inclusive, Kirkwall (Orkney) recorded just 23.5h of sunshine - an average of just 1h20m per day. The last ten days of the month were very warm and often humid, and from the during the last five or six days there were scattered showers and thunderstorms. Afternoon temperatures throughout this periods were typically between 23 and 28°C, even in inland parts of northern Scotland; highest readings at standard sites (that is, not including rooftop stations) included 29.1°C at Cranwell (Lincs) on the 25th, 29.7°C at Kew Gardens (London) on the 27th, 29.5°C at Heathrow and Northolt (both London) on the 28th, and 29.5°C again on the 31st at Holbeach (Lincs). Nights were uncomfortably warm at times, and the minimum overnight temperature on the 22nd/23rd at St James’s Park (London) was 18.2°C. Thundery activity was most widespread during the afternoon and evening of the 28th when 59mm of rain fell in a storm at Pershore (Worcs), and again later on the 31st when 52mm fell at Boulmer (Northumberland). Mean monthly temperature was between 0 and 1 degC above the average for the standard reference period 1971-2000 in most parts of the UK, the warm weather towards the end more than offsetting the persistently cool weather of the first three weeks. In the last ten years July was cooler on four occasions: 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2007. Although not as wet as last July, rainfall was above the long-term average in all regions except East Anglia, and exceeded twice the normal in southwest England and south Wales. At Princetown (Devon) the monthly total was 290mm. Thanks to long bright periods during the last ten days, sunshine totals slightly exceeded the norm in East Anglia, the Midlands, southern England and the Channel Islands; Manston (Kent) reported 261h, Jersey airport 260h, and Eastbourne (Sussex) 238h.
                                                                                                                                               
                       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)
 
                                                                                           
     
Difference from average
   
Difference from average
 
Highest maximum
   
Lowest minimum
   
No. of days with grass minimum below 0ºC
   
Days of no sunshine
 
Maximum duration
       
First year of record
         
Days of no rainfall (0.1 mm or less)