UK Review - September 2009

In marked contrast to July and August, most parts of the UK enjoyed plenty of fine, sunny weather. The first week, however, was generally unsettled and northern and western Scotland experienced more unsettled days towards the end of the month.

A woman tends to the vegetables on the Allotment in St James's Park in the last of the evening light on September 29, 2009 in London, England.

The remnants of ex-hurricane 'Danny' brought rain and wind to southern and western areas on the 2nd then to the north and east on the 3rd and 4th. The persistent rainfall resulted in 24-hour totals of over 50 mm across north-east Scotland, with the Elgin and Keith areas of Moray recording over 100 mm. This led to flooding, Moray and Aberdeenshire being particularly affected with hundreds of homes evacuated and disruption to road and rail travel.

A deep area of low pressure tracking north-eastwards to the north of the UK on the 8th brought severe gales across northern Scotland, with gusts close to 70 m.p.h. in the Western Isles and Shetland. This resulted in travel disruption, with road bridges and ferry services affected. Heavy rainfall combined with recent wet weather is likely to have contributed to a landslide that blocked the A83 in Argyll.

On the 15th, a persistent band of heavy showers across south-east England resulted in totals of around 25 mm in the London area and 50 mm in north Hampshire with some reports of localised flooding. Further heavy rainfall affected parts of south London early on 20th, with 28 mm recorded in 2 hours.

Statistics

Mean temperatures were generally above the 1971-2000 normal for September, ranging from about 0.3 degrees C above average in Wales and south-west England to about 1.5 degrees above in northern Scotland.

It was provisionally the driest September in England since 1997. Enlarge Image

Rainfall was well below average across most of the UK, the main exception being parts of north-east Scotland. It was very dry across much of East Anglia, the Midlands, south Wales and Northern Ireland with less than a third of the normal amount. Provisionally, it was the driest September across England since 1997 and the 11th driest in a series from 1914.

Sunshine was generally close to normal. The sunniest places were in southern England and south Wales, where totals were typically 20% above average, and the dullest were in north-west Scotland where they were about 20% below.

A maximum temperature of 28.7 °C was recorded at Gravesend (Kent) on the 8th. A minimum temperature of -1.2 °C was recorded at Kinbrace (Highland) on the 19th. A site near Fochabers (Moray) recorded 123.6 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 0900 on the 4th.