June breaks new records - Kitchen Garden Magazine

Figures from the Met Office confirm that the unbroken run of fine June weather made it the warmest and driest on record in some areas

Throughout June, high pressure dominated the UK, bringing sunny days with high temperatures and very little rainfall. Provisional statistics make it one of the UK’s top five warmest Junes (in records dating back to 1910). On mean (24-hour average) temperatures, it has been the warmest June on record for Northern Ireland and Wales, and the fourth warmest for Scotland and England.

The UK average daytime temperature for the month was 19.9°C, which equals that of the legendary summer of 1976, and puts 2018 joint second since 1910. The warmest June daytime temperatures were in 1940, when 20.6°C was reached. Provisional figures make June 2018 the fourth sunniest on record for the UK as a whole, behind 1957, 1940 and 1975 (in figures dating back to 1929).

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June was also a very dry month for most of the UK. For much of England and Wales it ranks within the top five driest Junes (since 1910). In South-East and Central Southern England, only 3.0mm of rainfall was recorded – just 6% of the June average.

However, Paul Hickey, Deputy Director and Head of Water Resources at the Environment Agency, downplayed predictions of impending drought, saying, “A natural reduction in river flows and groundwater at this time of year is to be expected, and water companies plan for warm months. There are no water use restrictions in place; however, it is always helpful to follow water company advice and use water wisely.”

Find out more at https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/2018/june-end-of-month-stats

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Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.