Britain had cool summer

LONDON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The summer of 2011 was the coolest in Britain in almost two decades, preliminary figures reported Tuesday by the Meteorological Office showed.

The summer was also wetter than usual, The Independent reported. Meteorologists said rainfall from Aug. 1 to Aug. 29 was at 126 percent of normal, while sunshine was 76 percent of normal.

The average temperature for the month was 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) below normal, meteorologists said. This makes 2011 the chilliest summer since 1993.

The Met plans to release its full report on the meteorological summer of June, July and August Thursday.

Brian Gaze of TheWeatherOutlook said Britain's last run of high temperatures occurred in 2006.

"During the 1990s and 2000s, summer heat waves were more frequent than usual, and perhaps some people began to think this was the norm," he said. "During the last few years the run of poor summers has coincided with colder weather during the winter months."

The summer now coming to an end was wetter than last year although drier than those from 2007 to 2009.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/08/31/Britain-had-cool-summer/UPI-76211314770732/.