September cooler than normal

September, like August, was cooler than normal, the Met Office confirmed yesterday.

The average temperature in September was 24 degrees Celsius which, like August , was slightly cooler, by almost half a degree, than the 30 year average (1971-2000).

The Met Office said one of the reasons was the predominance of a cool northwest wind. In more than one in three days, the wind was northwesterly, compared to less than one in eight days when the wind was the typically, warm and moist southeasterly.

Low pressure systems over northern Italy and eastern Europe, as well as a ridge of high pressure over the central Mediterranean was the significant mechanism contributing to the predominance of this northwesterly wind.

The highest temperature in September was 30.4 on the 5th. The highest ever reached in September was 37.4 in 1990.

September nights however were slightly warmer than average by almost half a degree. The mean for this September was 20.7 . The lowest temperature, 16.7 degrees, was reached last Sunday.

Although the rain year started with a bang - there were four days when thunderstorms were reporterd, including the first of September - the total rainfall for the month (21.4 mm) was less than half that expected (49.9 mm).

The wettest September on record was in 1997 when 266.9 mm of rain were recorded.