UK Climate/Monthly climate summaries/June 1996

The UK in June 1996: Michael Hulme on last month's weather

Daytime temperatures
June had the warmest temperature anomaly over the UK for any month since last November, 0.8°C above average. It was especially warm during the second and third weeks of the month. The nationwide daytime average reached over 22°C on the 6th June, the warmest day since the middle of last August. Only the extreme west of the UK recorded average or below average temperatures; elsewhere temperatures were between 1° and 2°C above average. The year is now about 0.5°C cooler than average.

Rainfall
June was a dry month nearly everywhere in the UK, and follows a sequence of four successive dry Junes. The south of England was particularly dry - less than 30% of average - but even Scotland and the west rarely recorded more than 75% of average. The seven days from the 13th to the 19th June saw virtually no rainfall anywhere in the UK. Of the last eight months in the UK, only February has recorded rainfall higher than the average.

Sunshine
June was a very sunny month, especially during the first fortnight. Four successive days from the 13th to the 16th averaged more than 12 hours of sunshine across the country, a sequence only equalled in the nine years of this summary during the last week of June 1995. Central and west England and Wales were the sunniest regions in relative terms, enjoying 40% or more sunshine than usual. Stornoway and Lerwick, in contrast, recorded 20% less sunshine than average.

Dr Mike Hulme is a Research Climatologist at the University of East Anglia

June 1996: warm and very dry and sunny

Mean monthly extremes