RAINFALL REPORT 
May’s total was 9.1mm and this was only a measly 17% of the average. With the exception of the 11th (3mm) the month was dry until the 20th. From there and for the next 8 days it was a more unsettled picture but it only delivered 6.1mm of rain. Over that initial dry period it was sunny, the third sunniest May on record for England, and warm too. The wind did remain resolutely from a northerly direction though and, at times, this took the edge off the temperatures. It also helped to reduce any rain benefit, drying the ground even further. England had 57% of its average rainfall but there was a north/south divide with the south down to just 47%. Well we were well down again on that with our 17%. So the (met) spring: a total of 34mm of rain against an average of 159.6mm, so just 20% of what we normally see. Remember last spring though – 288mm! Records galore (again); sunniest (653.3 hours of sunshine), in fact the fourth sunniest season with only 3 previous summers beating it, and the sunniest season since 1995. Both March and April were the sunniest and May second sunniest. The warmest and, for England, the driest since 1893. Phew, that’ll do. We all wanted an end to “the wet” but the pendulum has swung too far and we’re now into “the dry”. But the sunshine was lovely.