Highlands’ worst EVER summer... with 2½ft of rain

THE Highlands endured its wettest summer on record as Scotland suffered something of a washout.

The country was hit with more than 17in of rain during the months of June, July and August – 50 per cent more than would be expected in an average season.

This made it the second wettest summer on record, just a quarter of an inch of rain shy of the all-time high set in 1985.

In the Highlands, rainfall records going back to shortly after the Second World War were washed away.

The 22in of rain which fell on Inverness between June and August was the most the Highland capital had seen in a summer, breaking the record of 20 inches set in 1946.

And the 27in which fell on Argyll over the same period – more than 2ft of rain – broke the 1985 record of 26in.

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said: ‘These figures show Scotland has suffered a fair drenching this summer. Some of these statistics are so large, I had to double-check to make sure they were correct.’

Overall, for summer 2019, the West of Scotland was the wettest region in the whole of the UK. The area received 57 per cent more rainfall than usual, amounting to 21in.

Tim Legg, of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre, said: ‘Overall, summer 2019 was the 12th warmest on record across the UK, but unusually this summer was also relatively wet.

‘Previous hot summers have been largely dry but this summer was seventh wettest overall in the UK in a series dating back to 1910.

‘Scotland was very wet overall as it recorded its second wettest summer, only surpassed by the summer of 1985.’

Mr Legg added: ‘The picture for each of the three months was different, depending on where you were. Southern England and Wales endured the heaviest rainfall in June, whereas Scotland and northernmost parts of England saw the heaviest rainfall in August.’

At the start of last month, rail services on the West Highland Line were washed away when an overnight deluge removed 1,000 tons of material supporting the track at Ardlui, at the head of Loch Lomond.

A few days later, a landslide swept 50 tons of mud onto Glengyle on the northern shores of Loch Katrine, Stirlingshire.

The summer was not without its high points, however.

The end of June saw temperatures hit 30C (86F) and the TRNSMT music festival in Glasgow in July took place under cloud-free skies.