Damp July eases water scarcity warnings

It may have felt like July was a bit driech. In fact it was, even in Invergowrie on our drier east coast of Scotland.

July here saw the 16^th highest rainfall recorded for a July month, with 89.3 mm of the stuff falling (130% of the long-term average), according to our records, which go back to 1954. Some 16.6 mm of that fell on one day – July 31.

July’s rainfall followed a dry, hot June, which was our hottest June on record, at an average 15.1ºC, reflecting national records. The dry June had resulted in multiple significant and moderate water scarcity warnings across Scotland, which have now all eased thanks to July’s rain.

Despite the rain, we had the long-term average sun hour total for a month of July at 173.1 hours.

The daily air mean temperature for July was also fairly normal, at 14.7 ºC, just 0.5ºC below the 30-year long-term average.

The hottest day was on July 9, at 22.1ºC. The coldest day was on July 24, at 7.4ºC.

Data for July 2023

1. Air mean temperature:                 

Daily air mean 14.7ºC

Lta air mean 15.2ºC

Difference 0.5ºC 

Highest air temperature 22.1 ºC on 09/07/2023

Lowest air temperature 7.4ºC on 24/07/2023

2. Rainfall                             

Total rainfall 89.3mm

Lta rainfall 68.6mm

Actual 130.2 % of LTA

Highest daily rainfall 16.6mm on 31/07/2023            

3. Sunshine                           

Total sunshine 173.1 hrs

Lta Sunshine 173.1hrs

Actual 100% of LTA

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post are the views of the author(s), and not an official position of the institute or funder.