May’s rainfall just a quarter of the average

The Guernsey Met Office data showed that on average there would be 49mm over the month.

‘This month will probably be best remembered for its lack of rain with just over half an inch (12.7mm) recorded at the airport,’ said a spokesman. ‘Nearly half of that fell overnight on the 22nd.

‘With just over a quarter of the monthly average recorded then, it was the driest May since 1998 and with just 650mm for the 12-month period ending 31 May, the second-lowest total for that period for 25 years.’

May was also sunnier than average, continuing a trend of brighter-than-average Mays for the last four out of five years.

There were 267 hours of sunshine recorded over the month, an average of more than eight hours per day.

The average for the month is 238 hours. Every day of the month had some sunshine.

‘With high pressure the dominant feature through most of the month, we noted the second highest mean sea level pressure (1020.3hPa) for 31 years, and with a mean monthly temperature of 13.4C it was also the warmest May since 2008, and the second-warmest since 1989,’ the spokesman said.

‘Spring ended up warmer, drier and sunnier than average, being the second-sunniest and second-driest since 1997. It was also the third equal-warmest spring – with 2011 and 2017 –since our records began in 1843.’

Rainfall for the year so far is well below average, with 237mm so far this year, compared to 344mm on average.

But June has already had several wet days, with more than 12mm fallen so far this month – a bit above average.

The year so far has also been sunnier than usual, with 875 hours of sunshine against an average of 769 hours.

Water storage remains stable

WATER storage has stayed relatively stable and currently stands at 93.8% of capacity.

This is slightly below the 10-year average for this time of year.

On the 10-year average, water storage would not normally dip below 80% of capacity, but last November levels did drop down to 78%.

The most recent Guernsey Water report noted that it was considering how it would need to develop capture and storage systems to ensure resilience to severe droughts in the future.