By Philip Eden
Rarely can there have been a greater contrast between July and August. The statistics show that the drop in daytime temperature amounted to 6°C over much of Britain, August’s sunshine aggregate was considerably less than half July’s over much of Scotland and eastern England, while much of East Anglia had 10 to 20 times as much rain in August compared with July.
The Central England Temperature for August was 16.4°C which is 0.2 °C above the 1971-2000 mean; night-time readings were slightly above average but daytime temperatures were slightly below. Overall, this made it the coolest August for seven years. However, during the last 100 years, 67 Augusts were cooler while 33 were warmer. August 2006 was actually warmer than every August during both the 1960s and the 1920s.
The month’s highest temperature in the UK of 28.9°C was at Church Lawford (Warwickshire) on the 6th; this is the first time that 30°C has not been reached in August since 1993. The lowest maximum was 11.2°C on the 13th at Boltshope Park (Co Durham), while the coldest night was that of the 15th/16th when Braemar (Aberdeenshire) logged just 2.0°C.
Rainfall, averaged over England and Wales, was 88mm which is 122 per cent of the long-term average – not as wet as August 2004. In the last 100 years 41 Augusts were wetter and 59 were drier. The equivalent figure for Scotland was 99 per cent, and for Northern Ireland 109 per cent. There were marked regional variations, with the eastern half of England having a very wet August, whereas southwest England was moderately dry. Monthly rainfall totals at individual locations ranged from 209mm at Capel Curig in Snowdonia to just 17mm at Portland in Dorset.
August’s sunshine over England and Wales totalled 162 hours which is 82 per cent of the average for 1971-2000. This was the lowest August figure since 1986, and in the last 100 years just 15 Augusts were duller while 85 were sunnier. The equivalent figure for Scotland was 78 per cent, and for Northern Ireland 74 per cent. At a local level, sunshine totals ranged from 256 hours at Shanklin on the Isle of Wight to a mere 61 hours at Kirkwall in Orkney.
© Philip Eden