Met Office confirms July was cooler and greyer than normal for much of Highlands
Much of the Highlands was cooler and greyer than normal in July but not particularly wet, the Met Office has said.
It revealed the figures in its latest monthly round-ups for the UK, which it posted today (Thursday).
Sunshine totals, meanwhile, fluctuated notably depending on where people were in the Highlands and Moray.
The greyest places were parts of north-west Sutherland and the Aviemore area - where sunshine totals were between 50% and 70% of the long term July average recorded between 1991 and 2020.
Inverness, Loch Ness, the west coast, Skye, and other northern parts of Sutherland, meanwhile, were a little sunnier - with totals sitting between 70% and 90% of normal.
While Mid Ross and Easter Ross, the Black Isle, Caithness, and the southern parts of the Great Glen were around normal.
However, most places were cooler than the long-term July average, with all parts of the Highlands and Moray recording temperatures between 0.5C and 1.5C colder than normal - expect for Caithness, which was close to average.
Rainfall totals were locally quite varied, with a couple of small areas recording under 50% of the normal monthly rainfall for July, and others centred on parts of Lochaber, the Great Glen, Lairg and a stretch of the north Sutherland coast posting tallies between 50% and 70% of the average.
Most other parts of the Highlands recorded totals between 85% and 125% of normal, with a very small part of Speyside posting rain tallies of between 15% and 150% of normal. In some cases, the wettest areas were just a short distance from the driest, indicating the showery nature of the month's rains.
The results mirrored the Scottish totals, with Scotland's average July temperature this year coming in at 0.6C cooler than normal at 12.8C. Scotland as a whole also recorded 85% of its usual July sunshine, and 84% of its typical July rainfall.
What were your own experiences of the July weather? Were you one of the luckier ones, or were the figures for your specific part of the Highlands particularly grey and cool?
