Month	Diana Perowne	Pauline Roberts	Graham Allison	David King	Terry Read	Peter George	Met. Office Averages
	Hevingham Norfolk	Wendling Norfolk	Thorpe St Andrew Norfolk	Brooke Norfolk	Sisland Norfolk	Pakenham Suffolk	East Anglia
May	35.0mm	34.5mm	39.0mm	43.3mm	34.8mm	36.5mm	43.0mm
June	86.0mm	115.5mm	106.0mm	114.5mm	107.8mm	94.0mm	89.5mm
July	14.0mm	26.5mm	37.0mm	50.0mm	48.2mm	36.5mm	39.5mm
August	24.5mm	39.5mm	38.0mm	25.7mm	26.8mm	29.5mm	36.3mm
May – August Total	159.5mm	216.0mm	220.0mm	233.5mm	217.6mm	196.5mm	208.3mm
Year to Date Total	285.5mm	358.5mm	384.0mm	391.8mm	344.2mm	292.0mm	324.5mm

Another topsy-turvy set of figures with May, July and August below average rainfall and June with above average. Despite that very useful rainfall in June the total for the year so far is well below what might be expected by the end of August. From my observations, gardens are beginning to suffer, with even some well established shrubs and trees looking decidedly unhappy with sparse, pale, drooping leaves.

The sunshine total hours of 843 during this period have been much the same as in the previous six years apart from the high of 1017 hours in 2018. However, periods of intense heat with record breaking temperatures have given our climate a Mediterranean feel. Perhaps we should be adapting our gardens to these hotter, drier conditions?

Peter George

05/09/2019