WITH an “Atlantic” pattern of weather at the start of June, one would have expected it to be changeable with spells of rain. The first two days nevertheless gave us prolonged sunshine despite a brisk breeze from the west, before a weak weather front approached to bring dull conditions and a short spell of rain early on Tuesday, June 3. It was sunny again by noon, setting the pattern for the rest of the first week, with showers or longer spells of rain interspersed with sunshine. Temperatures by day were average, while the nights were warm.

Saturday, June 7, was mostly cloudy with rain through the middle part of the day. The 6mm (0.24 inch) in the Wellington rain gauge brought the weekly total to a useful 20mm (0.8 inch), greatly welcomed by gardeners. The second week saw temperatures rise, as high air pressure over France drew air across us from a southerly quarter. On Wednesday, June 11, the temperature in Wellington reached 23°C (73F), but it dulled over in the evening, resulting in a very mild night before heavy rain arrived in the small hours, slowly clearing during the Thursday morning. That fall of 11mm (0.44 inch) would prove to be the month’s heaviest.

On Tuesday, June 17, with a gentle flow of air from the sub-tropics, our maximum temperature passed 25°C (77F) for the first time since the beginning of May. On the next two days the mercury in Wellington topped 28°C (82F), which is classed as “noteworthy”, and then on Friday, June 20, it passed 30°C (86F). The next day was also hot, but then there was the customary thundery breakdown in the weather. We had just a few heavy spots during the morning of Saturday, June 21, before fresher conditions arrived overnight from the west.

Moving into the final week of the month, low air pressure to the north placed us under a strong flow of air from the Atlantic, with rising humidity. Days tended to start on a rather cloudy note, with sunny spells developing. Thursday, June 26, began with patchy light rain, but this amounted to less than 2mm (0.08 inch). The last four days became progressively hotter and uncomfortably stuffy. Then, despite a cloudy start on Monday, June 30, the heatwave peaked with a maximum in Wellington of 30.8°C (87.4F), our seventh-highest June temperature on record.

Overall, with a mean temperature of 17.7°C (63.9F), it was our second-warmest June ever. There were seven nights with a minimum temperature above the 15°C (59F) “noteworthy” threshold, a record number for June, and it was only the second June to have two daily maxima above 30°C in this area. (Interestingly, that figure has been exceeded eight times in Wellington in June since 2016, compared with just twice in the previous thirty years). The total rainfall of 42mm (1.7 inches) was 35 per cent below average, while sunshine amounts were close to normal.