August was a month of two halves, with hot, humid weather dominating earlier in the month, but the second half of the month has been unseasonably unsettled. Two named storms - Storm Ellen and Storm Francis – both affected North West England, bringing bouts of strong winds and heavy rain.
The first week of August was quite an unsettled one. After a cool and showery start to the month, low pressure approached the north of the British Isles and brought bands of heavy, persistent rain to northwest England on Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th. 37.8mm fell at Morecombe, Lancashire, on the Tuesday.
After that, high pressure then ridged in from Europe and allowed very warm air to plume up from the south. On Friday 7th, temperatures reached 36.4 Celsius at Kew Gardens in London, making it the hottest August day since 2003. This heralded the beginning of a persistent hot period of weather across the UK, with the North West seeing temperatures consistently peak in the high 20s Celsius.
Temperatures then peaked on Wednesday 12th, when the mercury reached 31 Celsius at Levens Hall near Kendal, Cumbria. Warm, humid nights followed the hot days, making for multiple nights of uncomfortable sleeping. On the night of Wednesday 12th, temperatures failed to drop below 20 Celsius at Morecombe, Lancashire. This is known as a tropical night - when temperatures remain above 20 Celsius throughout the night - something very rare in this country. These are thought to become less rare and more frequent in the coming decades, as our climate continues to change.
With the heat and humidity spreading further north, severe thunderstorms affected the UK from Monday 10th to Wednesday 12th. On the Monday night, thunderstorms brought torrential downpours and frequent lightning. At Morecombe, Lancashire, 37.4mm of rain fell in the space of just two hours.
There was finally a breakdown of the hot, humid air by Friday 14th, turning much cooler around the middle of the month. During the week of Monday 17th, showers and thunderstorms pushing up from the south early in the week was followed by more unsettled weather, brought on by an unseasonably deep area of low pressure moving in from the Atlantic. This was named Storm Ellen, and brought strong winds and heavy rain through Wednesday 19th through to Sunday 22nd. On the Saturday, there were wind gusts of 60mph at Shap in Cumbria, and 43.6mm of rain fell at Stonyhurst near Clitheroe, Lancashire.
Storm Ellen was the first storm to be named during the month of August, since the naming began back in 2015. Remarkably, Storm Ellen was then followed by Storm Francis, which brought another round of very wet and windy weather on Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th.
The end of August will finish on a more settled note, but it will also be much cooler, as we draw colder air down from the north.
Looking ahead to September
Looking ahead and through the first month of autumn, September will likely be a month of quite changeable weather. Areas of low pressure are expected to frequently track close to the north of the British Isles, whilst high pressure will often sit to the south. Fronts will track across the North West and bring spells of quite autumnal weather, along with the chance of further named storms bringing strong winds and heavy rain.
