June Surprises

June is the sunniest month of the year across England and Wales. The sun is also very strong, so it's important to keep an eye on the Sun Index. The extra supply of energy the increased intensity and length of sunshine brings means that things can get pretty lively with some intense rainfall.

According to the Meteorological Office, June is the start of the summer; June, July and August being the summer months. I know it's hard not to think of the Summer as an endless stream of fine and sunny days - but it very rarely is and in the weather world we often think of Summer as 'two fine days and a thunderstorm'. Oh well - something to look forward to!

Talking of Wimbledon, and in complete contrast, 1991 was a very wet one. The competition started on the 24th June and the weather turned thundery. In the first week 43.7mm rain fell at London Weather Centre, which is not far off the average for the whole month. After four days, only 52 out of around 240 planned matches were completed.

Let's look at a few of the England and Wales averages for June now to help make some comparisons.

Average Temperatures
5th June Central England temperature - 18°C
25th June Central England temperature - 19 to 20°C

Average Rainfall
England and Wales - 65mm for the month
Southeast and Midlands - 54mm for the month
Northwest - 74mm for the month

Average Sunshine
England and Wales - 6hrs 30mns per day

As I hinted at earlier, all sorts of weather can be thrown at us during June as the air can be very unstable.

• Giant hail may fall from huge thunderstorms - this occurred twice during the first week of June 1983.
• 30 hours of continuous rain fell just north of London on the 28th/29th June 1999.
• During June 2000, severe flooding was reported in Northern England after 80mm rain, over 3 inches.
• On the 10th June 1993 an amazing 140mm rain fell in Llandudno in North Wales, nearly 6 inches.
• On the 13th June 2000 severe gales swept across Northern Scotland with an 84mph gust reported at Stornoway.

Occasionally the weather can even take a rather wintry turn during June. On the 2nd June 1975 snow fell in a number of places with midday temperatures held down at only 2°Celsius! Also there was heavy snow over the Cairngorms on the 10th of the month 1986.