August 2025 Commentary

We experienced our third hot spell of the summer in the middle of August while the high pressure continued to prevail until the last week of the month when it dipped dramatically and two very wet days brought the sort of rain that hadn't been seen since April.

The days on either side of the hot spell were still warm but the temperatures during the last few days of the month took a tumble but whenever the sun appeared, it still felt pleasantly warm.

August was the sixth consecutive month with below average rainfall and until the 27th, it had been extremely dry and although it had tried to rain on numerous days with a few drops, there had been almost no measurable rainfall.

The average temperature for August was 19.4C which put it above the average over the last ten years while the total rainfall of 64.8mm (2.5 inches) was approximately two-thirds of the average over the last decade.

The average for the three summer months combined resulted in a temperature figure of 19.9 C which is the highest recorded over the last twenty years but only just above the figures recorded in 2018 and 2022. The total rainfall for the three months is 150.2mm which was much lower than average but nothing like the figure of 67.6mm recorded in 2022.

The rain probably came too late for many farmers locally though many gardens may well have seen the benefit already.

Philip Spray