What a surprise heat and sunshine in the Highlands now that I have returned but more of the same putrid well below average easterly GARBAGE here.
Even once the filth cleared it could get no higher than 12.7C and with a nagging wind all afternoon it was totally unacceptable for the last day of Spring. The rather cool April high pressure felt far warmer because at least the wind wasn't as bad.
16.8C was the highest temperature I recorded this month. Utterly DISGUSTING. It's the sort of monthly maximum that would be expected in Shetland where it is impossible to get any wind off the land. The same is true here now
The warmest temperature of this rancid spring was a truly awful 17.3C back on 29th March and that was a windy day with only 5.6 hours of sun little of which seemed to coincide with the only part of the day I could get out. 5th November 2020 and 27th February 2021 were nicer feeling days than just about anything this poxy spring could manage.
The monthly mean temperature was 8.2C - only 1996 was colder since 1968 and in the past 100 years only 1923 and 1968 were more than 0.2C colder.
Rainfall was more than twice the average at 103.2mm making it the wettest May since 1997 and the 2nd wettest since 1969.
Sunshine was only 65% of average despite the weekend boost. The total of 131.7 hours made it the dullest since 1983 and the 10th dullest since 1880.
All adds up to a horror month. Worst May since the record breaker of 1983 for combination of persistently cold, dull and wet misery. 1969 probably the only other unequivocally worse May.
May was the longest overdue for a top 10 dull month, the last one having occurred in 1993 (displaced into 11th position now). The longest run without a top 10 dull month is now September, this last having occurred in 1998.
However this pales in comparison to the longest overdue top 10 sunny month which unsurprisingly is the month most associated with permacast hell - June. Nothing in the top 10 since 1970 which means beyond most people's lifetime. No month has deteriorated more or improved at the same rate.
245 hours sun needed for that to happen - so roughly the same surplus required as the deficit for May. More chance of finishing with fewer than 137 hours which would set a new record low for May/June combined. A June as vile as 2007, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 or 2020 would do it so a 60% chance based on the last 5 years
Tomorrow will see another all time low reached for me. The first time I have ever seen bare trees in June. Unless those which I saw devoid of leaves today suddenly put on a growth spurt overnight which seems unlikely given the cold 8.7C temperature at present
Aberdeen: The only place that misses out on everything
2023 - The Year that's Constantly Worse than a Bad November