WEATHER WATCH

John Kettley This August has seen exceptional weather continuing the trend for much of the summer with low rainfall and record heat.

The start of last week eventually brought the inevitable thunderstorms to some parts of eastern England from Essex to the Humber but they were still unreliable with many places escaping the downpours.

But many places have still seen well below the normal levels of rain in August with just 1.06in in Keswick in the Lake District by last Friday morning. Bridlington in East Yorkshire and High Wycombe have both recorded a tiny

0.23in during the same period. So further talk of hosepipe bans is inevitable. The weather in the coming weeks does look more favourable for all those arid areas with rain at times, though it should remain fairly warm.