As June ends on a warm note, despite a few thundery outbreaks, it does seem that we might be in for a decent summer now. The water temperatures around our SE and south coasts have risen above normal and the weather pattern looks set into a reasonably ‘blocked’ set up as the Azores high pressure stays north of its usual position, often extending well to the north east across the United Kingdom.

This may be the kind of summers then that offers long dry warm periods of weather interspersed with short wetter spells, the type of weather that some climate change experts tell us we can expect more of in the future here in the UK, as we experience the effects of global warming. As it stands June 2009 was eventually fairly warm and fairly dry, despite the cool start & thundery breakdowns some experienced in the second half .

We can cope by choosing wise strategies to minimise the effects of such weather. The gardener can utilise water butts in the garden to collect any thundery rain that may fall from short lived storms before it runs off. They can choose plants that do not need a lot regular watering and can well cope with going without water if need be for a few weeks.

For our holiday periods we can try and be aware of how those in water impoverished countries take care of their own water supplies. They are encouraged to have quick showers rather than baths; use water sparingly and recycle it where possible, do not leave it running. Public spaces and lawns in the south east are already quite 'brown' looking, in future we may have to accept that large areas of green grass are simply not feasible all summer long and utlise garden sprinklers carefully.

On hot days (both at home and abroad) we should remember to drink plenty of fluids and not forget to give the kids plenty to drink as well. Whilst we are well drilled in the need for sunscreens nowadays, it is surprising how often we forget to have those extra fluids; whilst we may generally expect to drink a lot whilst on a sunshine holiday abroad we tend to forget that conditions can be just as demanding when working inside on a hot day and espcially when doing some kind of exercise such as walking, cycling or playing another sport outside. At least a litre is needed.

Whatever the rest of the summer brings (and you can see the July forecast summary from ‘Wiseweather’ on this site) we hope you enjoy it and if you are recording it from our instruments, hope that you can get some interesting readings as well!