August 2026 was the 5th warmest on record and looked to be one of the the driest on record. It obliterated the warmest August day record on the 13th and also featured the 2nd hottest day on record. Amazingly it also dipped below the 1961 - 1990 average briefly. Rainfall wise it was the 8th wettest on record.
August began on a warm note but turned very warm to hot by the 3rd but since it cooled down again by 5th this prevented a heatwave from being recorded. Temperatures were in the low twenties until the 8th when temperatures rose to 27.6C and 26.6C the next day but again temperatures fell back below heatwave levels on the 10th. However August wasn't going to be denied a heatwave when temperatures rose again on the 11th hitting 32.6C on the 12th and the 2nd warmest day ever on the 13th when 35.9C was reached. The heatwave ended quietly on the 15th when temperatures went back to the low twenties even dropping below on the 18th when the joint 4th coolest day was recorded with 19.6C. This was matched on the 20th and just beaten on the 21st when 19.5C was the high. Temperatures recovered again peaking at 25.6C on the 26th before dropping the 2nd coolest day of the month when 18.8C was recorded. The coolest day of the month was on the 29th when 17.8C was recorded. Temperatures generally switched between just above average to below from the 26th. The month features some notable cool nights even more so considering it was one of the warmest months on record. The overnight lows of 8.9C followed by the joint lowest 7.4C on the 22nd and 23rd then a 7.9C on the 24th. The period of from the 21st to the 24th was actually below the 1961 - 1990 average. This demonstrated that the 1961 - 1990 just has some relevance today despite the warmer climate. The month just missed out on tropical nights when the warmest nights fell to 19.8C and 19.6C on the 13th and 14th.
August until the 27th was pushing to be one of the driest on record. Indeed the first 15 days only saw rain on two days bringing a total on 1mm to the board. A run of 11 days saw no measurable rain and was totally dry on 10 of them. A wet spell from the 16th to the 21st brought 14.8mm then five more days without any measurable rainfall followed. Models were constantly predicting rainfall that never materialised the 26th being one in the case where forecast storms failed to appear. So understandably sceptical that rain forecast for the 27th would delivery much. ECMWF predicted around 25mm and normally over does the rain. However in this case it under did by a huge margin when the sixth wettest day since 1989 arrived. 70.2mm fell mostly between 10am and 15pm and again from 23:00hr to 02:00am. Roughly seven hours. One wonders red alert should have been issued considering the run off from dry ground and this was just over a months total rainfall. The month ended showery with some further notable rainfall, 10mm on the 30th bringing the total to over 100mm a huge turn around in the last five days with just over 89mm of rain falling.
August was a quiet month without any windy weather.
The month featured a thundery shower on the 18th and a weak Thunderstorm overnight 27th into the early hours of the 28th. Very rare these days to have two days of Thunder. Storms on the 30th went around the station so no thunder or lightning observed or heard.
September looks set to start on a changeable note with showers or longer spells of rain. Temperatures generally above normal but as we head to mid month turning cooler again with some chilly nights. High pressure looks set to build from mid month with high pressure becoming the dominate player once so turning dry and warm with sunny spells. This settled spell looks like continuing mostly right up to the end of the month so a month of two halves. A wet first half followed by a dry 2nd half. The month looks like having above average temperatures again and rainfall either side of average but not by much.
| August's Averages, Highs and Lows | ||
|---|---|---|
| Average Temp 16.4C | Last Months Average 18.4C | Difference from average 2.0C |
| Average Max Temp 21.0C | Last Months Average 23.7C | Difference from average 2.7C |
| Average Min Temp 11.9C | Last Months Average 13.1C | Difference From Average 1.2C |
| High Max 35.9C on the 13th | Low Max 17.8C on the 29th | Highest Daily Range 17.5C on the 8th |
| High Min 19.8C on the 14th | Low Min 7.4C on the 22nd and 23rd | Lowest Daily Range 3.0C on the 27th |
| Number of Air Frosts 0 | Days of Thunder 2 | Days of Snow 0 |
| Days of Measurable Rain 13 Days | Days of Rain with trace 3 Days | Days with Gusts ≥ 50 mph 0 days |
| Average Rainfall 68.8mm | This Months Average 105.8mm | Percentage of Average Rainfall 153.8% |