JUNE
This month followed the tenth warmer-than-average spring. It was also the wettest spring for five years with 10% more rainfall than average as well as the dullest for eight years. The first day of June was dull, damp and cold, prompting thoughts of an awful summer. What has happened to global warming? Suddenly as if an unseen hand had thrown an invisible switch, summer arrived, hot and strong!
Temperatures fluctuated from 15ºC - 31ºC. The average, 24ºC, was higher than usual, continuing the trend for June to get warmer each year in the last 11 years of my records. In 1996 the June average was 26.7ºC but this was exceptionally high. I keep my thermometer shaded and to the best of my knowledge my recorded temperatures are accurate. I have recorded values that exceed the records given for East Anglia but this is not too surprising as there are more minor variations in an area than people realise.
The night time temperature average was 10.2ºC, which is consistent with my records. The highest was 16ºC and the lowest 4ºC.
Rainfall was low. There was 23mm over 7 days. Only the 1996 total was lower at 10mm. The wettest day produced 12mm and the daily average of 0.77mm was below normal.
Some high winds arrived later in the month, not unusual in June. Naturalists and gardeners in Suffolk were alarmed at the number of shrubs and small trees that were stressed by the combination of high temperatures and low rainfall.

JULY
Phew - what a scorcher! There was no escape from the heat, even at night. Night time temperatures peaked at 18ºC; the lowest was 8ºC on one solitary night. The average of 13.9 ºC was the highest I have ever recorded.
The highest daytime temperature in Ringshall was 36ºC, higher than anything quoted on the television. I recorded 35ºC in July 1995 but such heat is unusual. The average temperature of 30ºC is my highest yet.
With all this heat it is not surprising that rainfall was very low. 10.5mm fell over five days, the wettest producing only 4mm which, I am sure, quickly evaporated.
This total was less than half the previous lowest record I had. The wind was variable between northerly and southerly directions, speeds between light and moderate.

AUGUST
Year on year this is usually a very consistent month and the temperatures this year conformed to the pattern. At night the highest temperature was 16ºC, the lowest 8ºC. The average was 11.2 ºC.
Daytime temperatures varied between 30 and 16ºC. The average was 22ºC.
August is usually the wettest summer month and this year it was excessively so - over 22 days there were 133.5mm. On the wettest day there was 26mm. The daily average of 4.3mm made this the wettest August I have recorded by far. There were wide variations across the region e.g. Andrewsfield in Essex had only 61mm for the month and Epping 69mm.
The wind was variable and in some cases violent. On the 17th tornadoes cropped up in places around East Anglia causing a lot of damage.

SEPTEMBER
This September was certainly the warmest that I have recorded. Night time temperatures ranged from 7 - 16ºC with a mean of 12.1ºC.
Daytime temperatures climbed from a low of 17ºC to a high of 30ºC. The average of 24.3ºC put this month in the record books. The only higher daytime temperature I can find was in 1949 when 32ºC was recorded on the fifth in both Mildenhall and Rushmere St. Andrew.
Rainfall was high at 75.5 mm over 11 days, which made this my fourth wettest September. The wettest was 1994 when 98.8mm fell over 15 days. The rain in the region varied as shown in the figures for the last week of a month which averaged a total of 55mm. Ely received 26mm, Andrewsfield 4mm whilst Yarmouth and Lowestoft suffered a month’s rainfall in 24 hours.
The wind was slightly more normal, coming gently and mainly from a southerly direction. There were seven calm days and a couple of very windy ones.

SUMMARY
This was a summer to remember for its extremes - the hottest and the wettest. As autumn begins it is still very warm and one wonders what will happen over the next few months. I do hope it is cool enough to stop my grass growing!