In this area I would rank July this year as equal to the astonishing July of
1983, which, at that time, was comfortably the warmest month I had known
since I started regular readings in 1970.It soon became clear that July 1983
was the warmest month of all in the Central England series. Little did I
realise then that August 1995 and now July 2006 would run it close.

The comparative figures a-
1983 2006
Mean max 27.5 27.1
Mean min 14.8 15.4
Mean 21.15 21.25

Rainfall 29.2mm 21.3mm

Days with
max above
26.6c (80f) 21 17

In my younger years I was used to hot summers being followed by warm,
dry autumns
eg 1947, 1949, 1959 so it came as a surprise in 1975 and 1976 when the
Septembers were
very wet.

Peter Clarke