By Philip Eden

June was an episodic month with no dominant wind direction. The first week was rather cyclonic, but there followed successively anticylonic, northerly, cyclonic (again) and southwesterly spells. Over the entire month, mean sea-level pressure was slightly below normal, by 0 to 3mbar, over all parts of the British Isles. Broadly speaking, it was rather dry and sunny in the south, but somewhat cloudier and quite wet in the north, with monthly temperatures generally close to the long-term average.

Mean maximum temperature ranged from 20.7°C at Heathrow airport (London) to 12.0°C at Fair Isle (between Orkney and Shetland), while mean minimum temperature varied between 12.7°C at St Catherine's Point (Isle of Wight) and 6.1°C at Braemar (Aberdeenshire). Both mean maxima and mean minima were 0 to 1°C above the long-term average in all regions of the UK. The Central England Temperature (CET) of 14.2°C was 0.1degC above the 1971-2000 mean; nevertheless, this made it the coolest June since 1999 - a reflection of the consistent warmth of recent Junes.

There were several warm days up to the 10th but it was persistently rather cool during the remainder of the month. The highest maximum at a standard site (that is, excluding rooftop sites) was 26.9°C at Lee-on-Solent (Hants) on the 8th, repeated at St James's Park (London) on the 9th, while the lowest minimum was -2.3°C at Tulloch Bridge (Lochaber) overnight 23rd/24th. The lowest afternoon maximum occurred on the 22nd when a high of 8.5°C was logged at Loch Glascarnoch (Wester Ross).

Rainfall averaged over England and Wales was 62mm which is 8 per cent below the mean for the standard reference period 1971-2000. The equivalent figures for Scotland were 83mm and 28 per cent above, and for Northern Ireland 63mm and 4 per cent below. Monthly totals ranged from 233mm at Capel Curig (Snowdonia) to 18mm at St Catherine's Point (Isle of Wight). There were three very wet episodes during the third and fourth weeks as active depressions crossed the country: at Capel Curig 94mm fell in 48 hours on the 17th-18th, at Keswick (Cumbria) 85mm fell in 48 hours on the 21st-22nd, and at Ringstone Edge reservoir (above Huddersfield, W.Yorks) 77mm fell in 24 hours (most of it in nine hours) on the 26th.

Sunshine averaged over England and Wales was 217 hours which is 14 per cent above the 1971-2000 mean. The equivalent figures for Scotland were 160 hours and 4 per cent below, and for Northern Ireland 182 hours and 7 per cent above. Highest monthly totals were found along the south coast and in the Channel Islands with 308 hours at Guernsey airport, 294 hours at Jersey airport, and 270 hours at Portland (Dorset). Smallest total was 95 hours at Lerwick (Shetland).

© Philip Eden