THIS year is turning out to be a right hotchpotch. The dry, warm and sunny weather during the last ten days of August pleasingly continued for the first fortnight of September.

This almost four-week spell contrasted starkly with the soaking experienced earlier in the summer. Indeed, it was one of the most arid in the past 30 years or so in many places across the region, with just a millimetre or two (less than 0.1in) of rain, falling largely on the 2nd.

There was 2.4mm (0.1in) in 26 days here at Carlton, near Stokesley. In my 24 years of data, the driest 28-day period was mid-March to April 2003 when a miniscule 0.4mm (0.015in) accumulated.

The second half of September was changeable, cool and fairly wet but, by the end of the month, it was settling down again. Over the month, it was quite dry in the North-East, with 50-85pc of anticipated rainfall.

Temperatures generally ended up above average but by only around 0.5C (1F). Even so, it was the coolest September for about five years. Days tended to be on the mild side and nights a bit chilly so that the mean minima in some locations, as at Carlton, were the coldest since 1994. This September was the last to be appreciably below normal, that is, by more than 0.5C (1F).

High pressure was established to the west of Eire at the end of August and this sat there firmly for a further two weeks. The circulation around an anticyclone is clockwise so a west to north-westerly covered Britain.

This would be expected to give temperatures slightly cooler than usual but, in the shelter of the Pennines and with the plentiful sunshine, they were boosted mainly above the norm. Nevertheless, they did vary considerably with the source of the airstream.

For example, on the 2nd and again on the 10th, a ridge from the high extended northwards so that the wind veered more northerly for a few days on both occasions. Then it felt chilly in the breeze, out of the sun, and distinctly cold at night, with ground frost "out in the sticks".

Another build in pressure northwards occurred from our anticyclone on Sunday the 16th but this time it was retreating westwards. The resulting northerly flow was much more vigorous and there were a lot of showers over the next two days. A "normal", unsettled, westerly regime followed.

The fronts that crossed Britain on Monday the 24th were particularly active and spawned the rash of tornadoes over southern England. Fortunately, in our area, there was nothing more than a gusty southerly but with some very heavy rain during the early morning.

Then showery north-westerlies set in as a ridge of high pressure developed northwards again but, in this instance, beyond Iceland. As this toppled south-east towards the Northern Isles, winds turned northerly and direct from the Arctic, keeping the showers going in the east of our region.

The maximum on the Wednesday, 9.2C (48.5F), was the lowest in any September in my logs, the former being 9.9C (50F) on the 27th in 1993. This was a rare event in recent times, that is, to have a "coldest" record broken, and last happened as long ago as March 2001.

On the Thursday and Friday, with the breeze now north-easterly, it was overcast and drizzly. However, by the final weekend, with the high having transferred to southern Scandinavia, winds pulled round towards the south-east and it became dry, warmer and brighter.

September Temperatures and Rainfall at Carlton in Cleveland: Mean Maximum: 17.6C, 63.5F (+0.5C, 1F); Mean Minimum: 9.1C, 48.5F (-0.5C, 1F); Highest Maximum: 24.8C, 76.5F, 7th; Lowest Minimum: 1.9C, 35.5F, 18th; Total Rainfall: 43mm, 1.7ins (-16mm, 0.65ins); Wettest Day: 8.5mm, 0.35ins, 23rd and No of Rain Days, with 0.2mm (0.01ins) or more: 13 (-0.3).

(Figures in brackets show the difference from the 23-year mean, 1984-2006.