The UK enjoyed the warmest, driest and sunniest summer since 2006 this year – but despite July’s prolonged heat wave the weather didn’t break any records.
Manchester basked in sun from July 3 until July 22 – before torrential rain and a lightning bolt hitting Piccadilly station marked the end of the heat wave.
Early figures from the Met Office (predicting the last three days of August) put the UK mean temperature for the summer at 15.2 °C, which is 0.8 °C above the average.
They predict 2013’s summer will ranks in the top ten warmest summer’s since 1910.
A Met Office spokesman said: “The most notable weather of the summer was the prolonged heat wave in July, which was the most significant since July 2006.
“This year’s heat wave was more notable for its duration than the actual temperatures recorded.”
Despite it being the driest summer since 2006, with only 189mm of rainfall, flash floods were still seen in Northern England following the torrential rain and thunderstorms on July 23.
Commuters at Piccadilly station in Manchester suffered long delays after a lightning bolt struck a signaling system at 6.45am on July 23, leaving much of the station without power.
Picture courtesy of @MrJOwen, with thanks.
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