For much of the month July was actually very dry and also slightly cooler than average, but from the 19th the month became increasingly unsettled, wet and warm. That warmth reached its zenith on the 25th when the UK, but not Cumbria, broke its all-time highest temperature record.

  The month opened with a cool north-westerly flow over the UK, but for much of the first half of the month high pressure was close by and this resulted in dry weather but with variable amounts of sunshine. The 'weather' part of the month occurred from the 19th which was generally unsettled and then saw a sudden influx of southerly air that brought a brief, but intense spell of high temperatures.

  Whilst Cumbria did not see its all-time highest temperature record of 33.1°c broken, falling 1.0°c short, the UK did, but even though this was a short-lived event, night-time temperatures remained high for the last week of the month.

  Up to the 18th rainfall only totalled 6.0 mm, but an inch of rain on the 19th heralded the beginning of a wet spell of weather with some fairly heavy daily falls following; some of these falls being accompanied with thunder.

  MSLP of 1014.9 Mb was +0.4 Mb above the local average for the month and overall a mean minimum of 11.63°c and a mean maximum of 20.57°c saw the temperature 1.13°c above the ten year average for this site.

  It was the coldest since 2017 and of the eleven now recorded, eight have been colder and two have been warmer. The highest maximum temperature recorded was 31.7°c (25th), the lowest minimum 3.9°c (3rd).

  Rainfall of 120.1 mm (Crosby Ravensworth School 123.6 mm - Castlehowe Scar 168.4mm) was 119% of average for 2007-18 and made it the wettest July since 2013 - of the 13 now recorded three have been wetter and nine have been drier.

  During the month, the following was recorded: thunder was heard on three days (24-25th and 30th) and an inch of rain fell on two days.

  At the Met' Office site at Newton Rigg, rainfall of 116.0 mm (165%) was the wettest since 2009 and in a series back to 1900 (with records missing in 3yrs) July has been wetter in 11 years and drier in 105.

  A mean temperature of 16.27°c is 1.17°c above average for the month and in a record back to 1951 (records missing in one year) July has been warmer in 8 years and colder in 59.

  Locally, rainfall percentages were well above average, especially at Kirkby Thore (234%), but with percentage falls showing no particular pattern as to location.

  Figures from the Environment Agency’s rainfall sites were, (figure in brackets being the monthly average for 1961-90)   ‘Data kindly provided by the Hydrometry and Telemetry team of the Environment Agency (Penrith)’:

  Kirkby Thore 93.4 mm (39.8 mm)

  Haresceugh Castle (Kirkoswald) 108.03 mm (78.2 mm)

  Brothers Water 187.84 mm (142 mm) and

  Orton (Shallowford) 113.4 mm (97.9 mm [average for 1967-2018])

  241.2 mm at Seathwaite Farm (Borrowdale - 204 mm [average for 1981-2010]).

  General Synoptic Report for the Month

   High pressure (HP) built slowly from the SW then west at the start of the month before briefly retreating on the 5th. During this time we enjoyed dry days with reasonable amounts of sun (3rd especially), but with a NW'ly flow temperatures were pegged back just below 20°c, although the 3rd did just manage to attain that mark.

  The 5th was a cloudier day as low pressure (LP) to our north pushed a cold front south over the UK. However, HP to the SE of Iceland then pushed south and the 6th became a lovely sunny day, but despite that sun a NW'ly breeze kept the temperature just below 20°c.

  High pressure remained over the UK 7-9th, albeit only nominally come the 9th, during which time the 7th was another fine day and did just manage 20°c before the amount of cloud increased 8th and then again 9th which saw some drizzle and the temperature back down to 16.3°c.

  10-11th saw LP south of Iceland with an associated front trailing over the UK which brought a little rain and cloudier skies, albeit the afternoon of the 11th saw an improvement. This was ahead of HP moving in from the Atlantic which became dominant over the UK (centred off the northern tip of Eire). The HP would hold sway until the 17th bringing an extension to the predominantly dry month, which saw just 2.8 mm of rain up to the 16th. However, it wasn't wall to wall sun as there was always some cloud, (the 13th being the best day of the period) but it was quite pleasant with temperatures typically ranging 20-22°c.

  The HP began its retreat during the 17th as LP in the Atlantic nudged east with a cold front on the 17th bringing fresher air and a slight dip in the temperature.

  Up to the 18th we had hardly seen any rainfall, but this would now change with LP becoming the more dominant driver. The first LP system arrived during the 19th bringing rain later in the evening which continud overnight to give 25.4 mm credited back to the 19th.

  We than sat in a brisk SW'ly flow ahead of another LP system from off the Atlantic but once again we were fortunate to see the accompanying rain (14.0 mm) fall in the evening and overnight into the 22nd.

  That SW'ly became even brisker during the 22nd and saw winds gusts to 44 Mph, but now with HP virtually present over mainland Europe and LP systems in the Atlantic the winds gradually backed southerly and as a result the temperature began to rise and within the mix was thunder.

  The 21.1°c of the 22nd became 27.2°c on the 23rd and whilst the 24th saw the temperature dip to just over 20°c it actually was crazily warm overnight into the 24th and created a new highest minimum temperature record for this site of 17.8°c (64°f). And that warmth was accompanied by our first thunderstorm of the month that gave 11.9 mm of rain - but now the feed of southerly air now was to reach its climax!

  During the early hours of the 25th the temperature was rising quickly. Already 24.5°c at 1000 Hrs, the day just became intolerably warm, reaching 31.7°c (89.1°f - just think how warm it was and it was still shy of 90°f). This triggered a brief spell of thunder and lightning at tea-time but with just 3.9 mm of rain.

  Low pressure would remain over or near to the UK for the rest of the month bringing some heavy spells of rain and whilst day-time temperatures became more tolerable either side of 20°c, the temperature at night remained oppressively high.

  A warm front associated to LP south of Iceland remained virtually static north-south over the central part of the UK during the 27th and subsequently with 32.5 mm of rain it became a write off (a Saturday) and the year's wettest day.

  The 30th saw another deep ALP in Biscay moving NE over the UK and this brought another spell of rain (14.4 mm) in the early hours of the 31st having been preceded by distant lightning in the afternoon of the 30th.