A very warm first 12 days to the month was then followed by a chilly second half to the month which, overall, saw the month finish with a totally average mean temperature. The 16-17th saw clear skies and light winds in a northerly flow which resulted in the 17th starting with an air frost; this being the earliest autumnal date in my records to record such.

  Summer extended into the early part of September with temperatures of at least 20°c being recorded on each of the first seven days. After this first week of the month, temperatures steadily fell away with the final week of the month being quite autumnal and with a few ground frosts.

  Rainfall was a constant up to the 12th after which it was broadly dry up to the 21st and then following a few mixed days the month concluded with a couple of wet days. The fall on the 30th saw a short, but intense down-pour during the afternoon that caused flooding and the loss of sheep in the Borrowdale valley.

  Up to the 27th the month had been in line to finish slightly drier than average, but the rain of the 28th and in particular the 30th pushed the final total above average.

  High pressure (HP) in the North Sea ridged over the UK on the 1st to give a pleasant day of sunny spells, but low pressure (LP) would then take charge for the following week. The 1st had topped 20°c and so indeed would every day through to and including the 7th; but rain would also fall every day.

  Both the 4-5th topped 23°c with the month's high falling on the latter date at 23.3°c (73.9°f). Rainfall during the 2nd to 5th managed to fall overnight leaving day-times to a mix of cloud and sunny intervals. LP had initially built from the NW, moved to our SW and then just sat there, becoming omni-present. Whilst the 6th still topped 20°c it would become wet (13.6 mm) with separate spells of rain during the day. The LP began a slow journey towards and across the UK on the 7th which saw some thunder and lightning at tea-time and in the evening, but without a deluge to accompany it. Much cooler 8-10th as the days became overcast with longer spells of rain, but totals were relatively low. The 8th managed just 15.7°c with a slight recovery 9-10th.

  The pressure gradient then slackened and with some decent sunny intervals the 11th saw the temperature creep up to 20.1°c, the last day of autumn to top 20°c. From this point on very few days would attain the seasonal average for the day-time maximum temperature of 16.6°c.

  Fronts late on the 11th brought a little rain with a drizzly day 12th, but now HP in the mid Atlantic would become dominant. It never ventured that far, but with the UK on its eastern edge the flow was a NW'ly one and autumn felt as though it had arrived.

  It was dry, but by the 16th the maximum temperature was just 14.1°c and then the 17th saw a new temperature record for this site - the HP had nudged that bit closer to the UK on the 16th, which in light winds, clear skies and a N'ly flow recorded the first ground frost of the season. However, those conditions persisted and the night-time minima on the 17th dropped to -0.5°c, the first air frost of the season and the earliest autumnal date in my records to record such.

  From the 17th the HP had sunk south to the SW coast of Eire, but a weak occlusion sat to the NE which brought more cloud and the odd bit of dampness. By the 20th the HP was merely a 'wedge' over the UK, now with LP in the northern Atlantic threatening. Finally the HP gave way, but not until the 22nd when fronts pushed across the UK to bring 8.2 mm of rain.

  However, 'ditto' - HP in the mid Atlantic, with the UK on its eastern edge, would see a return to a NW'ly flow and cooler day-time maximums. It was a mix between sunny intervals or cloudy conditions with the maximum temperature now well below 15°c every day during 24-28th, 12.3°c on the 28th being the coldest of the month. Further ground frosts were recorded on the 25th and 27th.

  In spite of being fairly cool, the 28th had been a pleasant enough day, but cloud built during the afternoon as an occluded front associated to a small area of LP in the North Sea swang west and south bringing 15.7 mm of rain during the evening.

  Transitional on the 29th as the pressure became slack ahead of a deep area of LP moving W-E to the south of Iceland.

  A deep area of LP to the south of Iceland that rotated around its axis on the 30th pushed a frontal system across the UK. This was an intense spell of rain, but of short duration and which caused flooding in Borrowdale in the LDNP. Here at Maulds Meaburn it became the first day of the year to record one inch of rain, the 36.0 mm (1.42"), during the five hours of 11-16h.

  In Borrowdale, where 100.4 mm of rain fell at Seathwaite, (the amount isn't out of the ordinary, but the short duration of the fall was notable) flooding ensued and one farmer saw 58 sheep swept away by the floods, at a considerable financial loss.

  MSLP of 1013.7 Mb was -0.4 MB below the local average for the month and overall a mean minimum of 7.94°c and a mean maximum of 17.07°c saw the temperature 0.01°c below the thirteen year average for this site.

  It was the coldest September since 2020 and since the record began in 2009 five have been warmer and eight have been colder - the highest maximum temperature recorded during the month being 23.3°c (5th), the lowest minimum -0.5°c (17th).

  Rainfall of 103.4 mm (Maulds Meaburn North 106.2 mm -- Castlehowe Scar 112.6 mm) was 119.7% of average for 2007-21, making it the wettest September since 2019. In a record that commenced in 2007, nine have been drier and six have been wetter.

  During the month the following 'days of' were recorded: thunder on one day - the wind speed averaged 3.70 mph, with a maximum gust of 44 mph (30th).

  We had 1 Air Frost in the month (year 33)          --          Grass Frosts totalled 4 (year 84).

  The 1 foot soil temp ranged from a low of 12.4°c on the 29th        to      a high of 16.6°c on the 6th and 8th     --      with a monthly mean of 14.7°c

  The 1 meter soil temp ranged from a low of 13.3°c on the 30th      to      a high of 15.3°c on the 1st and 2nd     --     with a monthly mean of 14.5°c

   This makes the Jan' to Sept' period of 2022 0.88°c warmer than the average for 2009-21 and with 80.4% of average rainfall for 2008-21

  At the Met' Office site at Shap a mean minimum of 6.8°c and a mean maximum of 16.3°c saw the monthly mean temperature exactly on average. It was the coldest September since 2020. In a record back to 1992, 14 have been warmer, 15 colder and one was the same.

  Rainfall of 112.6 mm represents 85.9% of its average. It was the wettest September since 2019 and in a record that commenced in 1989, 14 have been drier and 19 have been wetter.

  At Appleby in Westmorland rainfall of 93.3 mm represents 121.6% of its average (1856-2021) and made it the wettest since 2019 - in a record that commenced in 1856, 119 have been drier and 47 have been wetter.

  A notable rainfall event on the last day of the month, under the heading ‘heavy falls of short duration’ was to the fore this month and which was particularly felt in the Lake District’s Borrowdale valley.

  Whilst the final 24Hr totals (touching 100 mm) were not noteworthy in themselves, especially for this part of the world, the short duration in which they fell, 4-5Hrs was and it was this which led to flooding in the valley.

  The 30th was the month’s wettest day just about everywhere in the county and it was solely this wet end to the month, along with that of the 28th, that pushed the final totals slightly above average.

  However, some locations did manage to stay just below average; final percentages ranging from 82.5% at Aisgill to 155.9% at Harsceugh Castle (KIrkoswald).

  To pin-point a geographic pattern to parts of the county that were either drier or wetter than average is fairly futile with various examples of sites with either above or below average falls in close proximity of each other. And just like August, which had seen a 24Hr fall of over 100mm in parts of the LDNP, many sites within the national park still managed to finish drier than average in September – albeit in the high 90’s%!

  Even Honister (95.7%) managed to finish drier than average in spite of an inch or more of rain falling on 4 days and of which two went on to top 50mm!

  And yet again Ennerdale Black Sail (EBS) was both the wettest site (356.2 mm) and also had the wettest 24Hr period (115.0 mm on the 30th – some articles had listed Seathwaite as the wettest with 100.4 mm).

  Figures from the Environment Agency’s rainfall sites were, (figure in brackets being the monthly average for 1991-2020)   ‘Data kindly provided by the Hydrometry and Telemetry team of the Environment Agency (Penrith)’:

  Kirkby Thore 90.4 mm -- (64.1 mm)

  Haresceugh Castle (Kirkoswald) 131.08 mm -- (84.1 mm)

  Brothers Water 198.9 mm -- (214.4 mm)

  Orton (Shallowford) 113.0 mm (estimate) -- (127.1 mm [average for 1967-2021]) - making it the wettest since 2019 and since 1967 when the record commenced, 23 have been drier and 32 have been wetter.

  Seathwaite Farm (Borrowdale) 301.6 mm -- (290.8 mm [average for 1845-2021]) - making it the wettest since 2019 and since 1845 when the record commenced, 94 have been drier and 83 have been wetter.