THE remains of ex-hurricane Cristobal came our way at the start of the month. They stayed way out in the Atlantic, allowing high pressure to build north-east across Britain.

This ruled the roost for much of September. It was situated mainly to the south of the British Isles, providing a chiefly south-westerlies flow. Temperatures pleasingly returned above normal, by up to 1C (1.5F) over the month. It was widely the warmest September for eight years and only 0.5C (1F) chillier than August.

However, for about a week from Saturday the 13th, the high transferred north close to Scotland. This resulted in north-easterly winds across England. They produced a mostly cool, cloudy spell, with drizzle and mist at times, even fog.

This was due to hot, humid air drifting our way from the Continent. It cooled abruptly as it came over the North Sea and moisture in it condensed to yield an abundance of water droplets. Conditions were typical of summer in the North-East, on occasions, when the rest of the country enjoys clear blue skies.

Temperatures struggled to reach 15C (59F), except where the sun broke through. It did on Thursday the 18th at Carlton, near Stokesley, and the mercury soared to its highest of the month, 23C (73.5F). Just two days later, the maximum was the lowest at 13.5C (56F).

That was a miserable Saturday, unfortunately for Stokesley Show. On the other hand, where it stayed cloudy, temperatures hardly fell at night. So over the week, minima were amongst the mildest this year.

The main talking point about September was its dryness. In parts of Britain, including a few spots in the Dales, it was the most arid “on record”. For much of our region though, there was some appreciable rain on two or three days. But, it was still the driest for at least a decade.

Visibility was generally poor during the month, perhaps to the dismay of visitors to our area. At Carlton, there were only four days when it was 25miles (40km) or more at 10a.m. This was in contrast to August when, exceptionally, there were 22. However, September had another bonus – winds were never strong.

September’s figures at Carlton in Cleveland

Mean Maximum: 18.3C, 65F (+1.1C, 2.0F)

Mean Minimum: 10.0C, 50F (+0.3C, 0.5F)

Highest Maximum: 23.0C, 73.5F, 18th

Lowest Minimum: 4.6C, 40.3F, 22nd

Total Rainfall 17.5mm, 0.7ins (-44mm, -1.7ins)

Wettest Day: 6.0mm, 0.25ins, 5th

No of Rain Days, with 0.2mm (0.01ins) or more: 11 (-2½)

(Figures in brackets show the difference from the 31-year mean, 1983-2013)