May 2024 Commentary
May was essentially a dry, warm and sunny month and following two fairly similar dry and sunny ones, the spring season was probably the driest and warmest this century.
The first few days of May were hot but these were immediately followed by a week of mild temperatures and then the remainder of the month had day-time figures of around twenty or above. It was delightful.
There was no measurable rain until the 20th of the month, though in the following week, there were five days with some rain recorded before the month ended with four more dry days.
The average temperature for May was 16.5C which is nearly two degrees above the average over the last ten years and definitely the highest figure for May this century.
The total rainfall was 27.7mm well below the average for May of 86mm over the last decade while the dry period from April 23rd to May 19th (27days) is probably also some sort of record.
The three months that make up the Spring season have overall been warmer and much drier than usual so it already feels that we have had a good summer whatever happens over the next few months. In truth however there must be many gardeners, farmers and water companies who are all probably praying for rain.
Philip Spray