Following a wet June, July 2020 has been another wet summer month in northwest England with rainfall amounts above average. Overall, it has been a cloudier and slightly cooler than average July too.
Some of the most unsettled weather occurred in the first week of the month as a succession of low pressure systems moved in from the Atlantic.
Friday 3rd experienced the highest rainfall totals with 50.0mm, or about half a month’s worth, of rain falling within 24 hours at Stonyhurst, Lancashire. The first week also experienced unseasonably strong winds. Strong winds were most widespread on Sunday 5th, with a gust of 52mph recorded at Crosby, Merseyside.
Some spots in Cumbria experienced their wettest July on record. RAF Spadeadam had recorded rainfall accumulations of 215.6mm by Friday 31st. This is over twice the average rainfall for the month, and beats the previous record at this site of 211.6mm (in July 2012).
However, for the northwest England region as a whole, it was not the wettest on record. That accolade goes to July 1988, when over twice the average July rain fell across much of the region. That year, the Open Golf Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, Lancashire, was interrupted by flooded greens and bunkers. The 25th of that month experienced gales over northern parts of the UK, too, bringing down trees and blocking roads. However, the August that followed July 1988 was much less wet. Can we expect conditions to become drier this August?
Looking ahead to August
After a brief hot spell on the final day of July, August looks like being a highly changeable month of weather. One phenomenon that could impact our weather are ex-Tropical Storms or hurricanes. The hurricane season over the Atlantic and Caribbean region looks like being an active one. Occasionally, the remnants of these storms can reach the British Isles, bringing wet and windy weather to the northwest. However, in past years with active hurricane seasons, August temperatures have been above-normal, on average. So, while we can probably expect occasional wet and windy episodes of weather there should also be some warm or very warm days mixed-in.
