We are getting so used to elevated temperatures that occasionally a month comes along that throws a spanner in the works. The worst time that it can possibly happen is in Summer. Against the backdrop of fierce temperatures in Southern Europe and USA, good old Britain gets a swing in the opposite direction.
After a record-breaking June, July 2023 has been very, very disappointing. The rain has returned, in the form of heavy showers from a W/NW quadrant, and temperatures have been struggling to reach the 20 degC mark. A short spell of hot weather from the 7th to the 9th is all the first half of July could muster.
As we reach the final third of the month, it seems like 17-18 degC is all we can expect, and this seems to be the regime going forward into August.
Heavy rain set in on 22nd July as a low pressure system approached from the west. This continued into the 23rd, with more heavy downpours. Eighteen of the first 23 days had rain. By the end of the month, the total had reached 113.5 mm, which is the wettest July since I started recording here, and the wettest summer month since August 2020.
Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean, severely hot weather brought fires, and on 22nd/23rd tourists were being evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes.
Final Monthly Weather Stats at Durham
The mean temperature for July 2023 came in at spot-on 16.0 degC. The average maximum was just a shade over 20 degC (20.3) and the mean minimum was just 12.8 degC. There were 10 more days with rain this July, and the predominant pressure pattern was a cyclonic one.
Look how these compared to July 2022.
July Temperature
Mean 2022: 18.2 degC
Mean 2023: 16.0 degC
Mean Max 2022: 23.0 degC
Mean Max 2023: 20.3 degC
Mean Min 2022: 14.4 degC
Mean Min 2023: 12.8 degC
Abs Max Temp 2022: 37.5 degC
Abs Max Temp 2023: 27.6 degC
Days > 20 degC: 2022 21 days
Days > 20 degC: 2023 15 days
Days > 25 degC: 2022 10 days
Days > 25 degC: 2023 3 days
July Rainfall
Total 2022: 65.3 mm
Total 2023: 113.5 mm
Days Rain 2022: 14
Days Rain 2023: 24
July Atmospheric Pressure
Days Anticyclonic 2022: 29 days
Days Anticyclonic 2023: 11 days
Latest July Posts
- July 2023 Weather – A much cooler regime sets in
We are getting so used to elevated temperatures that occasionally a month comes along that throws a spanner in the works. The worst time that it can possibly happen is … Read more - July 2022 Weather in Durham – Record Breaking HeatInto the furnace we went! The start of July was relatively cool and mainly cloudy, with short periods of rainfall being typical in the first week, although quantities were small. … Read more
- July 2021 Weather in Durham – Warm with a good dry spellJuly 2021 turned out well. The first week proved to be quite wet, with the bulk of the month’s final rainfall falling this week. There was 48.5mm recorded altogether in … Read more
- The end of the July 2021 heatwave – Phew!It’s July 24th 2021 and today is the first day i’ve felt remotely comfortable in my own house for weeks. The heat has been slowly building this month, with incredibly … Read more
- Tornado (Funnel Cloud) over Darlington 10th July 2021There was a lot of hot but turbulent weather early in July 2021 which spawned some thunderstorms and funnel clouds in places. Funnel clouds and tornadoes are rare in the … Read more
- The last 5 July’s in the UK according to Trevor HarleyJuly 2016 Slightly warmer than average overall. Unsettled first half, then with a fine spell, and a hot spell from the 18th to 29th, before turning thundery, the month finishing … Read more
