Autumn, sorry, summer, begins with the start of June and the month did very little to inspire and indeed was frequently cool and cloudy and most certainly June 2015 has not been a summer month, although summer did finally put in an appearance at the very end.

   Temperatures struggled by both day and night with only the 10-12th and then dramatically on the 30th, offering any warmth. Ground frosts were even recorded on four days, but after a wet day on the 1st, rain was infrequent and inconsequential when it did fall, with the ground dry and hard at the month's end.

   MSLP of 1018.7 Mb was +3.3 Mb above the average for June, partly explaining the dryness of the month, but high pressure wasn't a dominant feature and the days often experienced variable amounts of cloud and hence it wasn't a particularly sunny month either.

   Overall a mean minimum of 7.57°c and a mean maximum of 17.03°c saw the temperature 0.7°c below the 1981-2010 average, making it the coldest June since 2012. The highest maximum temperature recorded was 28.3°c (30th), the lowest minimum 1.3°c (8th).

   Rainfall of 35.9 mm (Crosby Ravensworth School 35.2 mm) made it the driest June since 2010 and here at Maulds Meaburn was 46.3% of average for 2007-14. Since I set the rain gauge up at the school in Nov' 2014 this is the first time that Crosby Ravensworth has had less rain in a month than Maulds Meaburn.

   Locally rainfall varied between 45.4% of average (Newton Rigg) to 73.8% (Seathwaite), but was well down on normal everywhere and for the first time in 2015 Kirkby Thore isn't the driest location in the county.

   At the Met' Office site at Newton Rigg, 26.6 mm (45.4 %) made it the driest June since 1996 and in a series back to 1914 this makes it the 16th driest in that time. Also back to 1914 (with 4 years missing), a mean temperature of 12.25°c sees June having been colder on 20 occasions, with another 4 years having the same mean temperature.

   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 29.8 mm (42.2 mm)

   Brothers Water 73.5 mm (131 mm)

   Nunwick Hall 26.8 mm (55.0 mm) and

   130.6 mm at Seathwaite Farm (Borrowdale - 177 mm [average for 1981-2010]).

  1st - 2nd    Was it really the start of summer? An unseasonal start then to summer as an area of low pressure (LP) to the west of Eire, tracking north-east to Fair Isle, brought strong winds (gusts to 47 Mph) and rain. The 1st was easily the month's wettest day with 21.7 mm (60.4% of the month's total), with that rain becoming progressively heavier during the afternoon and evening. Accompanied by those strong winds it really did feel like autumn and was also the month's coldest day at just 10.9°c (51.6°f).

   The 2nd remained cool and windy with the occasional shower as the fronts associated to the LP cleared the UK.

  3rd - 4th    High pressure (HP) then pushed north from the continent and extended a strong ridge over the UK. This saw an improving picture on the 3rd that finished sunny, whilst the sun on the 4th was watered down by the presence of high cloud, but reached a respectable 19.1°c.

   With the 3rd having managed to remain dry it continued its run, along with the 5th March, of being the driest day of the year. Now with nine years of records the 3rd has never had more than 0.2 mm of rain (twice - 2008 and 2013).

  5th - 6th    Whilst failing to give any much more than the odd shower, cold fronts associated to LP west of Eire pushed the HP away and re-introduced cooler air. Generally overcast, windy and fresh feeling, especially on the 6th at just 12.1°c, as we sat on the southern flank of the LP as it tracked north-east past Scotland.

  7th - 12th    Probably the best period of the month that enjoyed some sunshine and three decent warm days before turning cooler again - surely summer has more to offer than this?

   As the fronts cleared on the 7th HP began to build in the Atlantic and extend a ridge over the UK. The centre of the HP would build to 1042 Mb, locally 1037 MB, centred west of Eire and then elongating towards the end of the period. The days became progressively warmer with the 10-12th all over 20°c, peaking on the 12th with 23.1°c (73.6°f).

   These three days were also perfectly dry, calm and sunny, but the nights were chilly with ground frosts recorded on both the 8-9th, the 7/8th the month's coldest night at 1.3°c.

  13th - 14th    LP moved north out of France and it was always going to be a case of just how far north the associated fronts travelled. As it was they held firm over the midlands, giving thundery showers in the south and whilst it was certainly dull we only had a little rain overnight into the 14th and drizzle first thing in the morning.

  15th - 22nd    It had been dull for the two previous days, but now you could add breezy and cold to the mix. HP was nearby, but never became established and in some ways contributed to the dreariness of the weather, with the occasional weak frontal feature joining the fray, but which only tended to thicken the already present cloud.

   With HP over Anglia the 15th started with a ground frost of -0.7°c, some sunshine, but cloud soon built. The wind picked up during the afternoon of the 17th as the 'Azores High' pushed slightly north, but not far enough as it created a brisk and fresh westerly flow over its top edge.

   Overcast, cloudy and cool was the recurring theme and whilst the nights now remained relatively mild under a blanket of cloud, day-time temperatures struggled. A little bit of brightness allowed the 17th to attain 18.6°c, but overcast and 14.1°c on the 18th with more of the same on the 19th was typical of these few days.

   This theme continued on the 20th, but with some sunshine at tea-time the temperature rose suddenly to 19.2°c and demonstrated the impact that even a little sun can have at this time of year, especially as under cloudy skies the next few days saw the temperature fall back below average.

   The 20th-22nd saw the occasional light shower and spots of rain and with a northerly airflow on the 22nd the temperature was back down to 14.1°c, some 3.4°c below the seasonal norm'.

  23rd - 30th    Throughout this final period of the month HP remained close to or at times ridging over the UK, but failed to become the dominant feature due to the close presence of frontal systems associated to LP in the Atlantic. There may have been a gradual warming, but otherwise it remained underwhelming.

   HP attempted to build from the south during 23rd - 25th, but failed to become truly established as the presence of LP in the Atlantic was pushing weak frontal features east. This saw the cloudy conditions persist, albeit brighter and with sunny ends to the days.

   The HP just managed to hang on until late in the day on the 25th as LP (983 Mb) in the Atlantic pushed a trio of cold fronts east making for a dreary day. The 26th was an improving picture as the fronts cleared away and HP once again tried to ridge back over the UK.

   A frontal system overnight into the 28th brought 3.3 mm of rain and a murky morning until the fronts cleared allowing the afternoon to brighten.

   HP to our south and east, pushing north on the 29th, now introduced a much warmer southerly flow and whilst the 29th still fell short of 20°c, the temperature rose dramatically on the 30th to 28.3°c (82.9°f), the warmest June day yet recorded at this site.

   The airflow was also humid, giving variable amounts of cloud with any sunshine best in the evening, but the thunder and lightning would wait for July.

   Rainfall totalled 35.9 mm for the month, with rain recorded on 13 days of which 8 were 'Wet days' (1.0mm +).

   The Mean Temperature for the month was 12.30°c      --      The Mean Max' was   17.03°c     --      The Mean Min'   7.57°c.

   We had 0 Air Frosts in the month (year 42)                --      Grass frosts totalled 4 (year 92).

   The 1 foot soil temp ranged from a low of 11.0°c on the 3rd        to      a high of 15.6°c on the 30th     --      with a monthly mean of 13.6°c

   The 1 meter soil temp ranged from a low of 10.2°c on the 4th      to      a high of 12.3°c on the 30th     --     with a monthly mean of 11.2°c

COMPARISONS:-

   * June 2015 rainfall was 46.3% of the June average for 2007 - 2014

   * June 2015 was 0.73°c colder than the June average for 2009 - 2014 and 0.7°c colder than the local long term average 1981-2010

      YEAR TO DATE
                                 
                                  * 2015     To Date                   TEMP      6.71°c         --         RAIN    578.3 mm

                                  * 2014  Jan - June                   TEMP      8.38°c         --         RAIN    738.2 mm

                                  * 2013  Jan - June                   TEMP'     5.96°c         --         RAIN    392.9 mm

                                  * 2012  Jan - June                   TEMP'     7.20°c         --         RAIN    491.0 mm

                                  * 2011  Jan - June                   TEMP'     7.68°c         --         RAIN    599.3 mm

                                  * 2010  Jan - June                   TEMP'     6.28°c         --         RAIN    206.4 mm

                                  * 2009  Jan - June                   TEMP'     7.61°c         --         RAIN    450.5 mm

                                  * 2008  Jan - June                   TEMP'                    --         RAIN    621.1 mm


                                This makes the Jan' to June period of 2015 0.48°c colder than the average for 2009-14 and with 115.7% of average rainfall for 2008-14