The warm and sunny end to May continued well into June, which after a few days with temperatures over 20°c, remained consistently warm with temperatures in the very high teens. Rainfall was very limited with many dry days and indeed up to the 24th only 2.1 mm had been recorded.

  The final third of the month became that bit more mixed with a few cooler days and a little more cloud, but rain was principally confined to just the two days, 24-25th, which bumped up the final total, but which do not prevent it finishing as easily the driest June in my 15yrs of recording.

  High pressure tended to be near the UK throughout the month, but it never really dominated and took control and hence we were never bothered by very warm temperatures, you may say that it was just 'pleasantly warm' and that was the case for the majority of the month.

  The 22nd started calm and with clear skies and which allowed the temperature to fall away (an air frost was recorded at Shap) and resulted in a ground frost being recorded, the latest date in spring/summer to record such in my records of 12 years. After a quite dull, damp and chilly day on the 25th, the month finished well, with plenty of sun and temperatures back above 20°c.

  MSLP of 1019.2 Mb was +3.8 MB above the local average for the month and overall a mean minimum of 8.59°c and a mean maximum of 19.05°c saw the temperature 0.48°c above the twelve year average for this site.

  It was the coldest since 2019 and of the thirteen now recorded, five have been warmer and seven colder - the highest maximum temperature recorded during the month was 23.2°c (29th), the lowest minimum 1.7°c (22nd).

  Rainfall of 20.1 mm (Maulds Meaburn North 17.7 mm -- Castlehowe Scar 24.9 mm) was 22.6% of average for 2007-20, making it the driest June yet recorded at this site.

  During the month the following was recorded: one ground frost (22nd) -- The wind speed averaged 5.87 mph, with a maximum gust of 38 mph (11th).

  At the Met' Office site at Newton Rigg, rainfall of 22.4 mm (38.2%) was the driest since 1996 and in a series back to 1900, 12 have been drier and 109 wetter.

  A mean temperature of 14.17°c is the coldest since 2019 and in a series back to 1952, 61 have been colder and 8 have been warmer.

  At Appleby in Westmorland rainfall of 16.6 mm represents 28.4% of its average (1856-2020) and made it the driest since 1992 (before which it was 1949) - in a record that commenced in 1856 this makes it the ninth driest.

  Rainfall totals across Cumbria were significantly below average tending to fall just either side of 30%. Orton recorded 25.9% of its average rising to 38.8% at Haresceugh Castl.

  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 14.0 mm (42.2 mm) - during the 1st to 22nd only 0.2 mm was recorded

  Haresceugh Castle (Kirkoswald) 26.87 mm (69.3 mm)

  Brothers Water 36.34 mm (131 mm)

  Orton (Shallowford) 22.4 mm (86.6 mm [average for 1967-2019])

  57.6 mm at Seathwaite Farm (Borrowdale - 177 mm [average for 1981-2010]) - making it the driest since 2014 and since the record commenced in 1845, 18 have been drier and 158 have been wetter.

  General Synoptic Report for the Month

   Whilst May was a very poor month it did at least finish with a couple of decent days and this continued into June, in spite of low pressure (LP) surrounding the UK. However, the UK sat within a slack pressure gradient and remained clear of any fronts. Consequently the 1st - 2nd were fine, sunny and warm, 23.1°c (73.6°f) on the 1st being followed by 22.5°c on the 2nd.

  A lull on the 3rd with weak fronts over Cumbria bringing a cloudy day with the temperature back down to 17.7°c before the sun returned 4-6th as a weak ridge of high pressure (HP) sat over the UK with temperatures just shy of 20°c.

  The next few days saw the occasional weak front or trough line bring a mix of cloud, sun and the odd spot of rain and or drizzle, but 0.5 mm of rain on the 9th was as much as it got.

  And so the trend for the rest of the month was set - the occasional weak ridge of HP with weak fronts occasionally passing through. HP never became dominant, but tended to be nearby, so whilst it remained dry, some days had decent amounts of sun, but with a few others being cloudy or overcast with the odd spot of drizzle.

  There was no great amount of warmth by day, just temperate temperatures that became stuck in a range of 18-19°c with only the 13th topping 20°c.

  A cold front from the north moved south on the 21st with HP then ridging in behind overnight, providing the first real cool day of the month at 15.3°c under cloudy skies. During the evening the cloud broke and allowed for a little sunshine, but with clear skies, no wind and a nominal N'ly flow, the temperature fell away overnight. Whilst an air frost was avoided, the 22nd did start with a ground frost of -1.7°c - the latest spring/summer date in my records to record such. However, at Shap an air frost of -0.2°c was recorded.

  Whilst the 23rd was an overcast and grey day, but only producing 0.4 mm of rain, it marked 29 days (back to 26th May) with just 2.4 mm of rain ... a 'Partial Drought' (the entire period was also a 'Dry Spell' {a period of at least 15 days to none of which is credited 1.0 mm} and the longest dry spell in my records).

  And as is so often the case, you get to the position of drought ... and then it rains! The 24th had started murky as the warm front from the 23rd slowly cleared south, brightening quite nicely before an occluded front brought the first meaningful spell of rain since 25th May in the early evening. With more rain overnight into the 25th, 11.2 mm was credited to the 24th and it had certainly freshened things up ... and got the weeds back growing!

  After the occluded front further fronts followed behind and brought more rain on the 25th, 6.8 mm, lasting for most of the day and which saw the temperature stuck around 10°c during the time that it rained. The day's maximum temperature of 12.5°c actually came at 1000 hrs on the 26th and was the month's lowest maximum temperature.

  The month then ended dry and reasonably warm with HP out in the Atlantic very slowly moving eastwards towards the UK and although it never became dominant, it prevented LP in France to move too far north into the UK, albeit fronts did encroach into the south Midlands.

  Cloudy at first 26-27th, but this improved to some decent sunny spells for the last three days of the month, although on the 28-29th it clouded over in the afternoon. However, temperatures responded well to that sunshine with all of the 27-30th attaining 20°c, with the month's warmest day coming on the 29th at 23.2°c (73.8°f).