Delayed arrival of ‘flaming’ June

IT was almost three weeks into the month before we could use the word “flaming” to describe June, writes Denis Gilbert, from Shiplake.

It started off with temperatures cool overnight with a low of 2C on one occasion and below average by day.

But from the 16th of the month, maximum temperatures rose gradually and never dropped below 20C, reaching 30C on the 26th. No records were broken as the mean temperature for the month of 14.7C is only just below the seasonal average of 15C.

With many clear skies, there was a mere 13.2mm of rain when there would usually be around 50mm.

Reading University recorded more than 260 hours of sunshine — that is quite a lot, I’m told.

But at least the wet spring has done marvels for my early potatoes.