Driest start to September in over 50 years

The first half of September has been exceptionally dry across much of the UK and temperatures for many areas have also been well above average, according to provisional Met Office statistics.

Figures up to 15^th September show there has been 6.7 mm of rain across the UK, which is just 7% of the September average of 96mm. We would normally expect about half of the average monthly rainfall to have fallen by this point in the month.

This makes it the driest first half of September for the UK in available records back to 1960. It’s also the driest start to September for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but not for England – 1997 and 2003 were drier.

Map showing actual rainfall across the UK from 1-15 September. All parts of the UK have been drier than average.

Looking at individual countries, Wales has been the driest with less than 1mm of rain up to the 15^th. Northern Ireland is just ahead, with 1.2mm of rain. England has seen 4.1mm and Scotland has seen 13.5mm.

The UK mean temperature so far has been 13.9C, which is 1.3C above the full-month average.

Day-time maximums have been particularly high, with an UK average of 18.4C which is 1.9C above the average, while night-time minimums have been closer to average at 9.6C – which is 0.7C above average.

To complete the picture of generally fine weather for the first half of this September, sunshine has also been slightly above normal with 70.8 hours for the UK – about 57% of the full-month average.

These figures have come about after a prolonged spell of settled and fine weather, dominated by high pressure sitting over the UK. This has blocked the usual low pressure systems that move in from the west and bring unsettled conditions to the UK. Instead we have seen very little rain, generally warm conditions, and slightly above average levels of sunshine.

While these figures are interesting, they don’t tell us where the month will end up overall. A few days of wet or cold weather could drastically alter the statistics, so we’ll have to wait for the full-month figures before making any judgements.

Whilst the rest of this week should be dry and warm for many areas, some sharp showers may develop in places, particularly through Thursday and Friday.

	Mean Temperature		Sunshine hours		Rainfall
1-15 September	Actual (°C)	Diff from Avg	Actual (hours)	% of Avg*	Actual (mm)	% of Avg*
UK	13.9	1.3	70.8	57	6.7	7
England	14.8	1.1	76.5	56	4.1	6
Wales	13.8	1.0	90.8	71	0.6	1
Scotland	12.6	1.7	57.1	54	13.5	10
N Ireland	13.2	0.8	63.2	56	1.2	1

*We would normally expect about 50% of the average by this point in the month.