This July was the eighth month in a row which has seen warmer than average temperatures for the UK. It was both sunnier and warmer than average, but not as much as July last year, according to provisional full-month statistics from the Met Office.
Figures for the whole month show that the UK mean temperature was 16.3C, which is 1.2C above the long term (1981-2010) average.
This ranks it as the 8th warmest July in our national records, joint with 1933. It’s worth noting that last July was warmer (17.0C, ranked 3rd), and this year is well short of the record warmest July of 2006 (17.8C).
Sunshine hours for the UK totalled 228.7 hours, which makes this the 6th sunniest July in records from 1929 – but, again, it’s not as sunny as last year’s July (248.7 hours, ranked 3rd), and is well off the record set in 1955 of 256.0 hours.
Rainfall was also below average, with this month’s UK total of 64.1 mm making 82% of the ‘normal’ amount we’d expect for the month. It was the driest July since 2006, marginally drier than last July, but there are many drier Julys in the records.
The rainfall patterns have been variable, with some parts of the country, such as the South West of England and west Wales, being much drier than average while others, such as parts of the South East, being much wetter.
Much of the rain has been from intense thundery downpours. On 20th July, Norwich Airport recorded 45.8mm in one hour, three-quarters of the ‘normal’ amount for the whole month.
Here are some other top weather facts from this July:
- Highest temperature: 32.3C at Gravesend, Kent on the 18th
- Lowest temperature: 1.2C at Braemar, Aberdeenshire on the 6th
- Wettest day (midnight to midnight): 46mm at Northolt, Greater London on the 28th
- Sunniest day: 16.1 hours at Glasgow, on the 9th
- Strongest gust: 58mph at Warcop, Cumbria on the 18th
You can explore figures and statistics about the UK climate, including national records dating back to 1910, on the Met Office climate pages.
