August 1960 was a very interesting summer month. It was a very wet month, but the vast majority of its rainfall came in the form of torrential thunderstorms. Interestingly for such a thundery month, it was actually quite a cool month with a CET of just 15.0C. It followed on from a wet July and made up part of an exceptionally wet late summer and autumn period.

The thunderstorms began pretty much from the word "go". Southsea recorded 41mm of rain, Monkmoor in Shropshire recorded 85mm and Old Malden in Surrey 82mm from thunderstorms on the 2nd.

The unsettled weather continued with a sequence of two low pressure systems bringing over 125mm to Brighton over the course of 40 hours between the 9th and 11th. There was also some reports of thunder for parts of the Midlands over this period too. Temperatures were also very poor under the torrential rainfall, with highs barely into double figures.

Another thundery period then followed with heavy thunderstorms being recorded on the 13th. 25mm of rain in just 15 minutes was recorded in Harlech, followed by 56mm of rain during a thunderstorm in at Cleethorpes on the 14th.

More severe convective weather was recorded on the 18th, with a 1,000ft waterspout observed off of the coast of the Isle of Sheppey. This preceded a short warm spell which brought the highest temperatures (mid-20s) of the month before this then went out in spectacular fashion.

150mm of rain in just 24 hours was recorded on the 24th in Northern Ireland, 91mm of rain fell in a thunderstorm in Forres on the 25th, followed by golf-ball sized hail in Jersey on the 26th.

All in all, it was an incredible month for convective weather, and interestingly a very similar October followed on from this, with a wet September sandwiched in between. October 1960 was also incredibly convective...

An interesting summary of one of many diabolical 60s summers  When storms and amounts of rain fall like that now its almost as tho its never happened before and the talk is of climate change causing it  I was 2 in 1960 and i always find it amusing when people of my generation talk about the fact that summers arent what they used to be with the notion that somehow all their childhood summer days were sunshine filled which is complete nonsense. Indeed we have had far more warm or hot spells between say 1990 and today compared to the 1960  to 90 period . Generally speaking summers now are nort that much different than in my childhood except that it is generally warmer more of the time than back then