Local Forecasts, History & Records
Summer Weather in Durham UK. Incorporating the months of June, July and August.
You’ll see much talk in the papers over the coming summer months of ‘heatwaves’. The daily rags describe any thing remotely warm as a ‘heatwave’, but is there a strict definition of a heatwave? This Met Office video sheds some light on it. A heatwave is an extended period of hot weather relative to the expected conditions of the area …
After June and July gave us above average rainfall, August continued with the theme. There were brief spells of real warmth, but no real sustained anticyclonic spells. Thunderstorms were quite frequent in the disturbed weather patterns which came mainly from the Atlantic. We were on the North side of the Jet Stream for long periods. The opening week was reasonable, …
The weather of Durham in July 2019 was a real mixture. The first week was very pleasant and dry, with temperatures hovering around the 20-22 degC mark. It got a little warmer toward the middle of the month, as we’d expect, but also slightly more unsettled. A few days peaked at over 25 degC, namely 10th, 11th and 16th. Nothing …
The article was produced following a bizarre weather event in July 1968. The month was a very active one for thunderstorms and featured one of the greatest falls of Saharan dust in the UK in recent times. From Trevor Harley’s Weather website: July 1968 Generally dull, cool, and wet, especially in the south, but with two exceptional thundery outbreaks. The …
I don’t think I would be being too harsh on Summer 2019 if I said I thought it was slow getting started. After the first half of June, the prospects of summer were looking dire. There had already been over 100mm of rain by the time we’d reached the half way point. There had already been 5 days with more …
Noctilucent Clouds over Durham City, June 17th/18th 2019 by Mike Ridley Photography Some of you eagle-eyed skywatchers will have noticed a ghostly glow in the sky on the way back from the pub in recent days. Was it real? Was it just an illusion caused by too much Gin? No, what you saw was real and is called ‘Noctilucence’. It …
July 2nd 2018. The height of the summer. This view shows Old Durham Gardens, just to the East of Durham City. We were in the middle of a long hot dry spell, where no rain fell at all for about 3 weeks. (21st June – 15th July). The dry spell broke with thunderstorms and heavy rain on 16th July. A …
This incredible Shelf Cloud, looking like an alien spacecraft from the film “Independence Day” came in over Durham in July 2015. Although it looked very threatening, on this occasion not much rain fell from it. It’s the best example I’ve seen of a Shelf Cloud in the UK. On 1st July 2015, the temperature hit 30 degC in Durham, …
In contrast to everything that had gone before, it was the warmest July in Durham since 2006 and therefore the second warmest month on record at Durham since 1850. The absolute maximum (28.4°C) on the 9th was the warmest day at Durham since 18th July 2006. Only 5 days had a maximum below 20°C with 5 days above 25°C. The …
Flooding at Croxdale, near Durham in the phenomenally wet summer of 2012. The River Browney, a tributary of the Wear, snakes past the hotel and is prone to flooding. Flood prevention here has stopped things getting as bad as previous years. The hotel has been flooded out on many occasions in the past (see photo below). June was particularly poor. …
Some of the worst flooding in recent years was experienced in Durham during the very wet July of 2009. The River Wear burst it’s banks in the city and riverside businesses were inundated after more than 2” of rain fell in one day (64.2mm was recorded on the 17th), on top of already saturated ground. The most extraordinary weather episode …
