MIKE BYFORD's GARDEN

Generally it was an unsettled month with frequent rain or showers, often thundery. Very warm at the start. Overall, a very wet month with over twice the 1971–2000 normal rainfall across many western and northern areas and over three times normal over south-west England. Provisionally, it was the wettest July on record (in a series from 1914) but only slightly wetter than July 1936 and July 2007. Generally, temperatures and sunshine were close to normal although the wetter western areas were also the dullest with around 80% of normal sunshine.

1st to 4th: The month began with very warm weather but also some thunderstorms and high rainfall amounts. A tornado was reported near Blackpool (Lancashire) during the early hours of the 1st, whilst there were reports of flooding during the day in the Durham area with some places reporting 25 mm in an hour. Sultry during the overnight periods, and daytime maxima approached 30 °C in parts of the south-east with the top temperature being 30.9 °C at Heathrow (Greater London) on the 1st.

5th to 9th: Low pressure dominated with bands of rain and showers or thunderstorms on many days. Some were particularly heavy and there was prolonged rain on the 7th with thunder, with around 90 mm reported in the Hastings area of Sussex. By the 9th the thunderstorms became more confined to eastern areas, whilst elsewhere saw drier and brighter weather. It was cooler and fresher with maximum temperatures only reaching the low-20s, whilst a minimum of 5.9 °C was recorded at Benson (Oxfordshire) on the night of the 8th.

10th to 19th: There was a good deal of drier weather from the 10th to 12th with sunshine during the day and temperatures reaching the mid-20s, although there was a band of rain overnight on the 11th. For the rest of this period, there was a return to unsettled conditions with low pressure dominating and bands of rain sweeping through or showery conditions, with the showers often heavy and thundery. An area of low pressure brought more prolonged rain eastwards on the 16th and 17th, with Cardinham (Cornwall) recording 94 mm on 16th. By 17th northern areas were wettest with Alston (Cumbria) recording 116.3 mm in 48 hours from 0900 on 16th. Windy on the 19th with frequent gusts above 30 m.p.h. across southern parts, Lee-on-Solent (Hampshire) reporting 51 m.p.h. in the afternoon.

20th to 31st: The driest and brightest days were the 20th, 25th, 26th and 31st with small ridges of high pressure across the country. Chilly overnight into the 25th with temperatures dipping to 3.5 °C at Redesdale (Northumberland). However, the rest of the period remained generally unsettled with low pressure dominating and fronts bringing spells of persistent rain on some days interspersed with sunny spells and widespread heavy thundery showers. Tornadoes were reported near Bolton (Lancashire) on the 28th and Guildford (Surrey) on the 30th. Some particularly heavy rain on the 29th gave 52.4 mm of rain at Liscombe (Somerset).