We have experienced colder weather than usual throughout the month of May, interlaced with a few sunny intervals. As we move in to June and summer, we will work hard to ensure that our network can withstand the warmer temperatures that we all hope for, and that we continue to power the lives of our five million customers across the North West.
Let’s see whether we can expect a repeat of summer 2018 with our latest update from professional meteorologist, Peter McAward from MeteoGroup.
A look back at May
May had a decidedly cooler start with plenty of rain in a continuation of the April weather trends. However, but the middle of the month things tended to settle out with a stint of high pressure overhead. Temperatures gradually increased through the month, with May closing on a warmer trend, heralding the arrival of meteorological summer.
The first week of May was quite unsettled across NW England, with outbreaks of rain along fronts punctuated with drier and sunnier episodes. Although the first two days of the month was more in tune with late Spring temperatures, these quickly dropped below average with polar air moving in from the north and lingering.
By the middle of the month, stronger high pressure built in from the southwest, pushing low pressure off to the north and northwest and keeping things settled, with little to no rainfall observed for nearly a week. Temperatures didn’t immediately respond though, and it took several days for the warmer air to arrive. By the 13th temperatures were back to average and even a bit above with sunny days.
The high pressure didn’t stick around for long, and by the third full week of May low pressure was again in charge, bringing unsettled and slightly cooler weather. This air was not as cool as the start of the month with polar air struggling to get this far south. Rain was more prevalent but mainly in the form of sharp afternoon showers as opposed to more widespread outbreaks along a front.
May closed in a much more changeable pattern than is typical for the time of year, with fronts attempting to push in from the west bringing rain at times, along with some afternoon showers and sunnier, drier spells. A few cooler snaps right at the end of the month saw May finish much as it started: cooler and wetter than normal.
A look ahead to June
June is expected to start out with a brief tease of summer for much of England, but mainly just on the 1st of the month. A cold front arriving by the 2nd will set up the trend of things to come for the first half of the month: namely unsettled and a bit cooler than average and generally feeling more like mid-Spring.
The second weekend and leading into the second full week of June are showing increasing signs of being rather unsettled, although there is some uncertainty if the heaviest showers and thunderstorms will reach NW England.
From the middle of the month, we expect high pressure to become more of a main weather feature in the area, so things will likely settle down and warm up as we head into summer. The end of the month looks like it may turn a bit more unsettled, but the forecast is highly dependent of a volatile jet stream driving by cooler air in the southern United States, so confidence is low. It is generally expected to stay warm, however.
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