By Philip Eden

September followed an unusual pattern with persistent northwesterly winds until the 17th, then northeasterlies from the 18th-26th. Cool and cloudy but mostly dry weather predominated, although the last few days were wet.

The Central England Temperature for September 2001 was 13.5C, which was 0.2 degC below the mean for the standard reference period 1971-2000. There have been 53 warmer Septembers during the last 100 years and 43 cooler (four had the same mean temperature). Nevertheless it was the coolest September since 1994. Daytime temperatures were generally below normal especially in eastern England and eastern Scotland, while nights were slightly above normal. There was a marked absence of warm days, and an isolated burst of warmth on the 28th was the only occasion on which 24C was approached.

Rainfall averaged over England and Wales was 68mm, some 18% below the average. The last three Septembers (1998, 1999 and 2000 were all much wetter, while those of 1996 and 1997 were substantially drier. In Scotland the provisional monthly total for September 2001 was 53mm which is 25% below normal, while the Northern Ireland total of 58mm was 29% below normal. Southwest England and Wales were the driest regions while East Anglia was the wettest. Lowestoft in Norfolk recorded 118mm of rain, more than double the local normal, while Camborne in Cornwall collected only 21mm which is barely a quarter of the normal rainfall there.

Sunshine over England and Wales totalled 125 hours, about 13% below the long-term average for September. The equivalent figures for Scotland were 102 hours (11% below), and for Northern Ireland 124 hours (16% above). Monthly aggregates ranged from a mere 48 hours at Kirkwall in Orkney, to 215 hours at Falmouth in Cornwall. Several places in northern Scotland experienced their dullest September since records began.