AFTER the exceptionally wet June and July, August was quite dry. In most parts there was only measurable rain between the 11th and the 21st and this added up to about half the normal amount for the month. It was the driest August for at least seven years.

Typically for the region, here at Carlton, near Stokesley, the rainfall accumulation for June and July alone almost exceeded that for the wettest summer in my 23 years of data, 2004 (313mm, 12.3in). Combining August's comparatively meagre total was enough to pass this easily (340mm, 13.4in) and gave approaching double the expected ration for the summer. However, this figure was well short of that for the wettest season of any, autumn 2000 (388mm, 15.3in).

August was generally a little on the cool side, by about 0.5C (1F), but this was sufficient to make it the coolest one since 1998, with nights at Carlton the coldest for 14 years. It was slightly warmer, relatively, on the east coast. Much the same on temperatures can be said for the summer.

The contrast with last summer was remarkable. The only things common to both were that the Augusts were cool and reversed the rainfall pattern for the two previous months.

In 2006, June was very warm and July was widely the hottest month of any since records began. This year, all the summer months were average or marginally cooler than usual. Last year, June and July were among the driest for these months but August was very wet. This year they went to the opposite extreme.

The Azores high, restored to its rightful place towards the end of July, offered us all, at last, a taste of summer. Thankfully, too, it held sway for several more days, forcing Atlantic lows to track far to the north of our shores, close to Iceland. Their associated fronts were mostly weak on reaching Britain and gave little if any rain, especially to the east of the Pennines.

Winds were largely from a westerly quarter and so it was reasonably warm, too. They backed to the south briefly on the 5th, providing the warmest day of the year, with the temperature topping 80F (nearly 27C) in many areas.

The high eventually transferred east and, over the following weekend, away into Europe. The Sunday saw the fine spell break down with some thundery showers, yielding the first appreciable rain for a fortnight. Then, a hint of autumn was in the offing.

A very vigorous depression swept in from the south-west on the 14th and swung up the Irish Sea generating a blustery, showery interlude. It also turned cool as the breeze veered into the north-west as the low moved slowly away north.

Another, heading east across the North of England over the next weekend, produced a very damp, cold Sunday as it drew down brisk northerlies in its wake. These persisted for a few days and, although it chiefly dried up, it remained dull and chilly, particularly in the east, until early on the 23rd.

High pressure again dominated the scene establishing itself further north this time, to the west of Eire. The resulting north-westerly prevailed well into September.

The Friday was very warm, with the mercury achieving about 24C (75F), no less than 10C (18F) higher than the miserable level managed just two days earlier. Although it then dropped back to nearer the norm, the weather stayed very pleasant with good sunny periods and dry, apart from the occasional odd spot of rain.

August temperatures and rainfall at Carlton in Cleveland. - mean maximum: 19.4C, 67F (-0.7C, -1.3F); mean minimum: 11.0C, 52F (-0.5C, -1F); highest maximum: 26.8C, 80 F, 5th; lowest minimum: 5.7C, 42.5F, 9th; total rainfall: 34mm, 1.35in (-37mm, -1.45in); wettest day: 14mm, 0.55in, 14th and no of rain days, with 0.2mm (0.01in) or more: 9 (-4).

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