By Rebecca SheppardTHE record books look set to be rewritten as weather forecasters predicted last night this September will be the driest ever.As the region basked in an Indian summer, East Anglian Daily Times weatherman, Ken Blowers, said the high temperatures would persist for the “foreseeable future”.
By Rebecca Sheppard
THE record books look set to be rewritten as weather forecasters predicted last night this September will be the driest ever.
As the region basked in an Indian summer, East Anglian Daily Times weatherman, Ken Blowers, said the high temperatures would persist for the “foreseeable future”.
He added: “It could well be the hottest September on record. The average rainfall for September over a 60-year period was 1.91 inches.
“We are halfway through the month and we have only had 0.29 inches, so we are way, way down.”
Mr Blowers said the warmest day of the month was Tuesday, with temperatures of 27C (81F) - the average for the month is 18C (65F).
“The outlook is for the dry and warm weather to go on for the foreseeable future. The temperatures will be similar over the next few days, about 74F or 24C,” he added.
Mr Blowers said in every month this year, apart from January, the rainfall had been below average.
He added the average rainfall between January 1 and August 31 this year was about five inches below normal.
The last time the region had a substantial amount of rainfall was on July 27 when 0.69 inches fell, but a full inch of rain has not been seen since December 22 last year when there was 1.03 inches of rainfall.
Mr Blowers said the impact of the dry weather could be seen everywhere and added: “There is dry ground to about 12 inches, which is most unusual.
“Everybody's lawns are the colour of straw, they look awful. The heat is also causing some trees to shed their leaves early.”
Mr Blowers said a persistent area of high pressure was causing the continuing hot and dry weather.
Although it was slipping away slowly, it will still keep the weather dry and warm for several days yet, he forecast.
However, despite the grass turning golden and the ground rock hard, water supplies are at a relatively normal level and water restrictions are unlikely.
An Anglian Water spokesman said water levels “healthy” and praised customers for heeding water-conservation advice.
rebecca.sheppard@eadt.co.uk
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