This summer’s the sunniest in 7 years

AFTER a few washout summers, this year saw a settled June followed by a July heatwave and a sunny August.

So it comes as no surprise that the summer of 2013 has been our warmest, driest and sunniest for seven years, according to the Met Office.

And as the season draws to a close today, the good news is that the balmy weather looks set to continue into autumn.

Although temperatures will cool down over the weekend, the mercury could rise to as high as 28C (82.4F) in the South East and East Anglia next week.

The Met Office has revealed that between June 1 and August 28, the average temperature in the UK was 15.2C (59F) – just under the 15.78C (60F) figure recorded in 2006.

A total of 189mm of rainfall was measured, 78 per cent of the UK average and half last summer’s total of 379mm.

In 2006, 188.3mm of rain was recorded, along with 601.5 hours of clear sunshine that was not blocked by any cloud. That compares to 588 hours this summer, making it the seventh sunniest summertime since 1929.

But in a statement released yesterday, the Met Office said: ‘While this summer is warmer, drier and sunnier than the longterm average, it hasn’t been exceptional.

‘It stands out because the last six summers have been wetter than average, with 2012 and 2007 both being in the top five wettest, and 2008 and 2009 also in the top ten wettest in records from 1910.’

And while the 19- day July heatwave stood out as the most striking weather event of the season, the report said it was ‘more notable for its duration than the actual temperatures recorded’.

The summer’s highest temperature was not during the heatwave but on August 1, when the mercury reached 34.1C (93F) at Heathrow – the highest in the UK since July 2006.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said the weather marked a welcome return for summer sunshine, adding: ‘We have had the kind of summer we should have had, rather than the wet and cooler summers we have suffered in recent years.’