UK has coolest summer in almost a decade
UK’s coolest summer since 2015
It may not come as much of a surprise, but the UK has officially had a cooler than average summer, according to data released by the Met Office.
We already knew that the first half of summer, 1st June – 15th July, was the coolest such period since 2012, and the 17th coolest start to summer since 1960.
Whilst August did have some brief hot spells – mainly for England and Wales – they weren’t enough to lift the UK mean summer temperature up to average.
Summer temperature
The UK mean temperature for summer was 0.22C below average. However, there was a marked regional variation, with the most anomalously cooler than average temperatures across Scotland and Northern Ireland. England was only slightly cooler than average, by 0.07C.
The reason for the cool summer has primarily been the dominance of winds from the north through June and a good part of July. This brought Arctic air across the UK, keeping temperatures below normal.
It wasn’t until August that more numerous and pronounced spells of hot weather were experienced. But even then, they were short-lived and often confined to England and Wales.
Summer rainfall
Rainfall for the whole UK was 5% below average, but as with temperatures, there was marked variation from place to place.
England and Wales were drier than average overall, with rainfall 23% and 21% below average, respectively. Northern Ireland’s rainfall was very close to average, at just 1% below.
However, Scotland was much wetter than normal, with rainfall 18% above average. Even within Scotland, there were big differences, with the west being very wet and some parts of the east relatively dry.
Summer sunshine
Sunshine for the whole UK was 3% below average, but as with the other weather elements, there were notable differences from place to place.
England was the only nation to be slightly sunnier than normal, with sunshine 1% above average.
The other nations were duller than normal, with sunshine for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales 18%, 9% and 8% below average, respectively.
The Western Isles of Scotland were the dullest area of the UK this summer, with only two-thirds of their average sunshine.
How our summers are changing
Despite this summer being the coolest in almost a decade, in the past, this summer would have been considered warmer than average.
The mean temperature this summer was 14.37C, lower than the 1991-2020 current meteorological average of 14.59C, but higher than the 1961-1990 average of 13.78C.
So, in a nutshell, as we know, our summers are getting warmer due to human-induced climate change – illustrated clearly by how the summer mean temperatures are following an increasing trend.
Whilst some of you may have wished that this summer had been hotter, others will no doubt be relieved that we’ve managed to dodge the extreme heat that we’ve seen in recent summers.