Rain hits farmers
The Armagh Observatory has confirmed what many of us thought - June was a very wet month.
In fact, only one June in the past 174 was wetter and that happened in 1852!
Armagh Observatory this week reported that June was slightly cooler and much wetter and duller than average.
"The mean monthly temperature was 12.9 degrees Celsius (55.3 degrees Fahrenheit), that is, about one degree C below the most recent (1981-2010) 30-year average for June.
The maximum temperature recorded was 23.2 degrees C on the 27th.
The minimum air temperature was 3.4 degrees C on the 10th.
There were two nights with grass frost, the nights of 3rd/4th and 9th/10th," a spokesman said.
"Rainfall amounted to 156.6 mm (6.17 inches), which is almost 170% more than the most recent 30-year average (58.44 mm).
This makes last month the second wettest June in Armagh since records began in 1838. June 1852 had a total rainfall of nearly 7 inches.
"The number of hours of sunshine was 87.2, that is, about 40% lower than the most recent 30-year average (144.26 hr).
This was the dullest June for 25 years, that is, since June 1987, and the second dullest June since the Observatory's sunshine records began in 1880.
The wet June has been posing significant problems for farmers in Fermanagh, many of whom have yet to take first cut silage crops and hay is definitely out this year.
Only those farmers who took light silage cuts early in the season and those who took advantage of the odd dry day here and there have been able to make headway but with little opportunity to spread slurry or fertiliser for future cuts.
However many farmers are facing the prospect of no silage cut until mid July at the earliest.
Many farmers are also beginning to re-house stock as grass supplies are either running out or cattle are beginning to damage fields.
The reason for this spell of changeable weather with heavy rainfall is because the Jetstream is placed low across the British Isles rather than its usual position to the north when it would drag in warmer, drier air from the Continent.
Source: imparialreporter