Global warming, climate change, shifting jet stream or just one of those blips - whatever it was, the result was a pretty awful summer. It reminded me of those summer holidays of my school days which gave British summers such a bad press and helped to build the package holiday industry. After a beautiful April we had a poor May but looked forward to a flaming June.

June started dry but was cloudy and cool. The average daytime temperature was 21.4ºC, which was 4ºC above the lowest I have recorded in twelve years. At 11.4ºC the night time average was the highest that I have recorded over the period. The disappointing thing about the month was the lack of sunshine. Iit was frustrating to be covered by a never ending blanket of cloud.

Rainfall was high; in fact it was the fourth highest level in twelve years. The total in Ringshall was 85mm, which was enough to keep the plants growing well although the lack of sunshine meant that my runner beans had their worst year ever. By the middle of the month rain was heavy in parts and caused severe flooding. In other parts of the country these were devastating.

The winds were variable and sometimes quite strong. They varied in direction as well as strength.

In the archives I discovered that in 1982, 108mm of rain fell in 100 minutes at West Bradenham in Norfolk on the fifth of the month. This contributed to a record June rainfall of 216mm.

July is always an interesting month as it contains the prophetic St Swithin’s day. It also heralds the start of the school holidays. The average daytime temperature of 24ºC was quite acceptable, certainly if you don’t like the extreme heat of previous Julys. Again, the night time average of 13.5ºC was among the warmest that I have recorded.

The average rainfall of 2.2mm was third behind 2004 and 2005. However, this can be a wet month. In 1941 nearly 96mm fell in two hours at Writtle in Essex. This year the rain in Ringshall fell over 15 days which is just about half the month. Flash floods and violent thunderstorms affected parts of the county. The greyness and rain makes the temperature figures all the more surprising.

The wind came almost exclusively from the south west. It turned easterly for only six days. There were four days on which I recorded no wind at 9.00a.m. August was a month which again brought less sun than expected. Temperatures were near to the usual for Ringshall, however, at 26.5ºC the average was the second highest I have recorded. The night time average was 12.7ºC, which is towards the high end in my records. At 50mm the rainfall was high but nowhere near the 133.5mm that I recorded last year. Scattered showers have been a feature of the rainfall this summer. These showers may have been very heavy and prolonged in areas. Some of the August showers were driven by very strong winds, which also were very local in their effect. The rain was heaviest between the 13th and the 25th. I recorded no rain on other days. Wind direction was divided equally between the southwest and the northwest. On four days only did it blow from the southeast. Seven days started with no recordable breeze.

September proved to be a delight. There was a warm, golden quality about it, which went some way to compensate for the earlier grey, wet and windy summer. The day time average temperature of 20.5ºC was comfortable and the night time 12.8ºC was the highest that I have recorded.

Unfortunately some rain fell to spoil the party although this time it was actually needed, or at least some of it was. There was 33.5mm, most of it at the end of the month. This made it one the driest Septembers that I have recorded. Even with these rainy days it was a pleasant month with sunshine to fortify us for the coming winter. The wind was exclusively from the west and was evenly divided between the south and north quarters. In fact I recorded a perfect symmetry this month which as far as I am concerned is a first and worthy of note. On ten days the wind came from the southwest, on ten days it was from the northwest and ten days started with no recordable breeze!

Could this symmetry be a sign of things to come? If so I hope that it is a sign of better weather with no floods and tornadoes. Whatever the weather I wish you all a pleasant winter. Andrew Toomey