AFTER an excellent April, a decent May, and a very promising start to the month, June disappointed again.

Temperatures, sunshine and rainfall were all generally about average, but with some considerable differences around the region. With winds blowing frequently from a north-easterly quadrant, it was cooler by day along the coast, but mild at night. Inland, the reverse was true. In the south of our area, rainfall was in the order of threequarters of the norm, but, in the north, there was up to a 50 per cent excess.

After what we hoped would be the start of a long, hot summer at the end of May, the sudden return of winter provided quite a shock. Temperatures on the 2nd approached 25C (77F), then the warmest of the year. Barely two days later, they struggled to reach 10C (50F). Even worse, on Friday the 5th, with the onset of prolonged heavy rain, the mercury fell steadily from about 12C (54F) at 10am to just 6C (43F) at 3pm.

There was snow in the Dales, which settled on the highest hills. It was the first time this had happened so widely in June since 1975. Then, within a few days, temperatures soared into the seventies.

This year, we had to wait until the end of June for an appreciable recovery. After ten dry days, the clash of the just-arrived Arctic air stream with the tropical one hanging on in the south spawned the deluge on the 5th. It was the wettest day since September in many parts. Around the moors, rainfall totals were the greatest for a June day since the 19th in 2005, when floods wreaked havoc in the Hawnby and Helmsley district.

For most of the rest of the month, depressions were not far away. So it stayed largely cool, cloudy and showery, with occasional longer periods of rain. Westerlies did appear briefly a couple of times, allowing temperatures to pick up somewhat, but, with cold air still aloft, this simply beefed up the downpours.

Even when atmospheric pressure was relatively high, as on Tuesday the 23rd, with the barometer indicating almost very dry, scattered thundery showers developed during the afternoon. The closing week of June saw hot, humid conditions spread from the south-east to much of Britain. However, it wasn’t until the final two days, when the breeze veered more southerly, that summer returned to the North-East.

June figures for Carlton in Cleveland: Mean maximum: 18.2C, 65F, (+0.3C, 0.5F); mean minimum: 9.2C, 48.5F, (0.2C, 0.5F); highest maximum: 25.6C, 78F, 30th; lowest minimum: 2.2C, 36F, 5th; total rainfall: 80mm, 3.15ins, (+15mm, 0.6ins); wettest day: 26mm, 1.0ins, 5th; number of rain days, with 0.2mm (0.01ins) or more: 17 (+3).

(Figures in brackets show the difference from the 25-year mean, 1984-2008).