Although cooler than the last day of June, July 1, was plenty hot enough with a maximum temperature of 27C (81F) in Wellington, and high humidity. A weak weather front that crossed our region overnight introduced slightly fresher conditions, the next two days having brilliant sunshine with only occasional patchy high cloud. Friday, July 4, saw the return of more humid air, temperatures by day and night trending erratically upwards. The following week was exceptionally summery, with not a drop of rain, an average of twelve hours of sunshine a day, and near-record heat by the weekend.

Reflecting on what we now mean by “hot”, in the whole of the 1960s, in this area, just one year – 1967 - saw the temperature reach 30C (86F). In 1976 the maximum of 32C (90F) on July 1 was regarded at the time as hot as was physically possible in this part of the country. Fast forward to the 21st Century, and July 11, 2025, in particular. Under brilliantly sunny skies and with little wind, the temperature in Wellington reached 33C (91.4F), making that our sixth hottest day on record.

Although this heatwave did not end with a thunderstorm for us, it was probably a relief to everyone when the overall weather pattern changed slightly. With low air pressure to the north of the British Isles, winds set in from a generally westerly point, with weak weather fronts passing by at intervals. One of these gave a few showers in late afternoon on July 14, with rain promised for the following day, but it didn’t materialise. There was some drizzle early on July 16, conditions remaining very humid and daytime temperatures as high as 25C (77F). An overnight minimum temperature of 18C (64F) on July 17 equalled the record.

After a four-week spell during which we received only 5mm (0.2 inch) of rain in Wellington, July 19, brought some respite. There was a little rain before breakfast, followed by a bright day and then a fairly wet night. The 11mm (0.43 inch) in the Wellington rain gauge would prove to be almost half the month’s total rainfall. As the low pressure centre responsible drifted slowly eastwards across southern England, Somerset had a few days of showery weather. Frustratingly for local gardeners, most of the useful rain fell in other parts of the county.

The “Atlantic” weather pattern persisted to the month’s end, with variable amounts of cloud and temperatures above average, reaching 27C (81F) again on July 25. Occasional light rain in our area during the last week added a mere 6mm (0.24 inch) to the total, doing nothing to help our dwindling rivers and lakes.

In summary, with a mean temperature of 19.2C (66.6F), July was the fourth warmest ever in our area, as well as being the sixth driest in living memory with a mere 23mm (0.9 inch) of rain.