A cool and very unsettled month with showers or longer spells of rain and little sunshine. Only the far north and west escaped the worst of the poor weather.
The mean temperature was 1.1 °C below the 1981-2010 average and it was the coolest July since 1998. It was much wetter than normal across eastern and southern Scotland, with over twice the normal amount in the Lothians, Fife and the eastern Borders where it was one of the wettest Julys on record. In contrast, the Western and Northern Isles and the far north were somewhat drier than normal. Sunshine was limited especially across the eastern half of Scotland where, provisionally, it was the third dullest July on record.
- 1st to 10th:
- Showers on 1st with the heaviest in the east and a similar day on 2nd with plenty of showers and the heaviest for central and south-eastern areas. The showery theme continued on 3rd with western areas seeing the heavier ones. The showers became more widespread on 4th with central and southern areas having thunderstorms; Gogarbank (Edinburgh) recorded 21 mm in an hour during the afternoon. The 5th again saw some heavy showers and thunderstorms develop mainly for the central Highlands, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, these fading overnight. Although 6th started with showers in south-eastern areas these cleared during the morning before rain reached the Borders during the late afternoon. This spread northwards to affect central areas on 7th with some heavy bursts; 15 mm was recorded in an hour at Edinburgh and 42 mm during the day. The rain moved northwards during the night to leave a drier day for southern areas on 8th. Some heavy rain in the north-west cleared overnight to leave a bright day for northern areas on 9th but more rain fell in central and southern areas, persisting for much of 10th and extending to the north-east.
- 11th to 20th:
- Dry and cloudy in the west on 11th, with further rain in the north-west later. This quickly cleared away to the south-west although the rain persisted in the south-east, and it was dry but mainly cloudy elsewhere. Mainly dry but rather cloudy on 12th with scattered showers in the afternoon and 13th followed a similar theme with any showers restricted to western areas. The 14th generally saw showers for the northern half although on 15th these became more widespread and heavier, and it remained cool in a fresh north-westerly breeze. The showers on 16th and 17th were mainly reserved for more northern areas with the remainder of the country having some bright spells. The 18th was wet as rain spread from the west during the early hours. The heaviest rain fell in the Lothians and Fife, with Edinburgh recording 55 mm. The rain cleared overnight to leave some showers on 19th for most areas. The 20th was a better day with fewer showers and brighter skies although it remained generally cloudy.
- 21st to 31st:
- The 21st started bright but showers broke out in Tayside during the afternoon and rain spread into the Western Isles later in the day which cleared overnight. This left a cloudy day on 22nd with rain slowly spreading south-eastwards during the afternoon. The 23rd saw a slow moving band of rain clearing south-eastwards later in the day leaving much better days from 24th to 26th with more sunshine and temperatures around 21 °C in much of the south and east. From 27th to 30th there was a return to frequent and at times heavy showers for most areas with thunder on 29th for parts of Fife and the Lothians. A dry and bright start on 31st but rain spread from the south-west during the late afternoon and evening.
