Isle of Wight July driest on record says Met Office

The Isle of Wight, along with the rest of Southern England and East Anglia, had its driest July on record...and the weatherment say the dry spell is set to continue, with the Island warming up again towards the end of the week.

The Met Office said: "Southern England reported its driest July on record in a series that goes back to 1836, with 10.5mm of rain, which is just 17% of its average rainfall.

"In addition, 13 counties across southern and eastern England reported their driest July on record, including Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire, Dorset and Kent."

Met Office July rainfall. The Isle of Wight is included in the 13 counties. 

Dr Mark McCarthy of the National Climate Information Centre said: “July 2022 has been a significantly dry month for Southern England, only 10.5mm of rain has been provisionally recorded on average, less than the previous record of 10.9mm set in 1911.

"The dominant weather pattern for the month has only allowed interludes of rain into northern areas of the UK, with areas further south largely getting any rainfall from isolated and fleeting showers in a month that will ultimately be remembered for extreme heat.”

Isle of Wight July heat well above average

The Isle of Wight, alongside much of the south east of England, had well above average temperatures. 

The Island is in the band which shows it at least 1.5C above the July average. 

The Met office said: "With seven months of the year’s statistics now having being reported, mean temperatures have been higher than average for every month so far this year, with the average mean temperature at 9.7°C making the first seven months of this year the second warmest on record after 2014.

"However, the first half of the year does not dictate the second half of the year and so it is too early to say how these statistics will compare by December."  

Met Office sunshine chart.

Mr McCarthy said: “The extreme heat in the middle of July was headline-grabbing, but the heat was fairly widely above average for much of the month, with the southeast especially warm."

Isle of Wight sunshine levels above the norm

As well as being the warmest and the driest, southern counties were the sunniest too with some regions recording in excess of 280 hours, and for East Sussex the 8th sunniest July on record.

The Island, along with much of the south, was in a band which suggested it had between 110 and 130 per cent of its normal shunshine levels.

The UK saw 179.4 hours on sunshine on average throughout July, which is just over the national monthly average.

UK sunshine levels.

So what is on the horizon for the Isle of Wight?

The Met Office says high pressure will build again through the week with next weekend expected to be warm and sunny on the Isle of Wight and across the south generally.

Temperatures are expected to reach 24C by Monday.

The Met Office said: "This week showers will bring some rainfall to northern and western areas of the UK, however very few are expected to reach the south and east.

"By the weekend it is expected to be predominantly dry across the UK as high pressure re-exerts its influence from the south."