Sunshine at Stonehaven harbour
As spring comes to a close it's interesting to take note of the two significant warm spells that occurred in Scotland. Remember the very warm spell in March when the temperatures rocketed to 23.6C at Aboyne on the 27th, which was a new temperature record for the month. The warm spell was quickly swept away as a cold northerly blasted the country along with snow.
April was rather mundane in the weather world and so was much of May. By mid-May there were signs in the charts that warmer air was finally going to push north and bring us a fairly decent warm spell. Temperatures looked as though they would widely get into the mid-20s but the reports coming in from the Highlands gave us a pleasant surprise and the mercury soared over 25C on a number of days.
On Friday 25th May the little weather station at Achnagart in Glenshiel gave us another temperature record of 29.3C. This is the highest temperature ever recorded in Scotland in the month of May and quite a bit higher than the previous record set in Edinburgh back in 1992 of 27C.
We all get a bit greedy when the weather is like that and expect the hot weather to continue throughout the summer, but when has that ever happened? By the 29th cooler air had spread its way south across much of Scotland and that looks like staying for a wee while.
Looking at the charts for the near future (next few weeks) it would suggest that the weather will become increasingly unsettled as we head through the first part of June with low pressure systems moving in off the Atlantic. This will mean a return to more showery weather with spells of rain at times and also the possibility of stronger winds too.
As with any weather outlook beyond a week it should really be taken as a 'rough guide' as a small change in patterns in the next few days could have a bigger influence over the weather further down the line so there is a possibility that it could settle down again later. But if we go by things at the moment it is looking like a cooler and more showery phase, at least for the start of June. The only thing we can hope for is that breaking temperature records in March and May is perhaps a precursor of things to come. Who's going for a new record high in June, July and August then?
