WITH just a few days of the month to go, Jersey Met has confirmed that July is set to be wetter and cooler than average, in contrast to the searing temperatures and drought experienced 12 months ago.
Conditions in recent weeks have left Islanders bemoaning the disappearance of summer, with Jersey lying well north of the dividing line that has seen much of southern Europe baking in temperatures above 40°C, which has also resulted in devastating wildfires tearing across Rhodes, Corfu, Sicily and Algeria.
Jersey Met has offered a ‘tentative glimmer’ of hope for warmer weather to re-appear during the second week of August, but until then the forecast remains ‘subdued’.
Senior meteorologist Matt Winter said that average temperatures for the month were likely to be around 0.5°C below the 30-year average, while the average July rainfall figure of 45.3mm had already been exceeded by around 5mm, with further rain likely before the end of the month.
He said: ‘It does look a little bit better going into the weekend – we’re set for some quite breezy conditions, and some showers on Saturday morning, but both Saturday and Sunday afternoons should see some improvement, although the temperatures will still be quite subdued – maximums of 20°C or 21°C, which is a couple of degrees below the average.’
Mr Winter said that the final figures for July were ‘within the realms of normal’, but probably felt more extreme after the record-breaking figures from this time last year.
July 2022 was the Island’s driest on record, with just 0.7mm of rain, which fell on one day midway through the month, and was also the third-hottest ever, with records dating back to 1894.
Looking forward to August, Mr Winter said the picture was mixed.
‘The general trend for the next ten to 14 days is for the weather to stay on the unsettled side, with temperatures cooler than average,’ he said.
‘There’s a slight glimmer of hope as we get to the second week of August, when we could see the low pressure move away and temperatures rise to where they should be at this time of year, but that’s not set in stone,’ he said.
