There were unsettled spells between the 13th and 15th, and from the 19th to the 25th, but the remainder of the month was fairly benign especially in the southern half of the UK. There were several short warm spells, but these were largely counter-balanced by the many cold nights – a feature of August weather that has been largely absent in recent years. Sunshine was plentiful over England and Wales, especially along the south coast. During the second unsettled spell two unusually (for August) deep depressions passed close to northern Scotland bringing rough winds on the 24th and the 29th; on the latter date at gust of 66 knots was recorded at Scatsta on Shetland.

The Central England Temperature for August was 16.5°C which is 0.3 degC above 1971-2000 mean. In the last 100 years there have been 25 warmer Augusts, two with the same mean temperature, and 73 cooler ones; the fact that this was nevertheless the coolest since 1999 is a reflection on how warm the month of August has been during recent times.

The month’s highest temperature (recorded under standard conditions) of 32°C was reported at Northolt aerodrome in northwest London on the afternoon of the 31st. No other day came close, although 29°C was recorded in the London area on the 18th and the 30th. Cold nights with local ground frost occurred on the 2nd, 7th, 8th, 9th, 17th-20th, and 30th. The month’s lowest night-time reading was 0.8°C at Braemar in Aberdeenshire overnight 7th/8th.

Rainfall, averaged over England and Wales, was 60mm which is 84 per cent of the mean for the standard reference period 1971-2000, much lower than the exceptionally wet August of 2004, but much higher than the outstandingly dry August of 2003. In the last 100 years, 26 were drier while 74 were wetter. It was a wet month in northern Scotland, but a very dry one over large parts of southwest England, Wales, and the southwest Midlands.

There were comparatively few heavy thundery downpours during August. One isolated storm dropped 53mm on Warcop, Cumbria, on the evening of the 11th, while early on the morning of the 19th storms swept the Isle of Wight, Hampshire and Sussex, and also parts of Leicestershire, leading to serious but short-lived local flooding. The highest total to hand for this date is 61mm at Newtown Linford, near Leicester.

Sunshine (including an estimated amount for the 31st) over England and Wales totalled 214 hours during August 2005 which is 110 per cent of the 1971-2000 average. The equivalent figure for Scotland was 102 per cent, and for Northern Ireland 88 per cent. Monthly totals ranged from 80 hours at Kirkwall in Orkney to 322 hours at St Helier on Jersey.

© Philip Eden