Hastings sees driest July on record

Not only have they confirmed the town had the driest month on record but they recorded that Hastings had its highest minimum and highest maximum temperatures ever in July.

Kevin Boorman, marketing and major projects manager at Hastings Borough Council, said: “Rain fell on just two days, and on one of those, July 19, ‘rainfall’ amounted to just 0.1mm.

"1.5mm fell on the only other ‘wet’ day, July 26, making the total rainfall for the month just 1.6mm. The average for the month is normally 53.3mm.

"The lowest rainfall previously recorded in July was 5.1mm, more than 100 years ago, back in 1921.

"So Hastings recorded just three per cent of its usually July rainfall last month. No wonder the grass is looking so yellow everywhere.”

Last month, hundreds of people headed to the town’s beaches. Temperatures reached higher than 30 degrees during the week beginning Monday, July 18.

The Met Office extended an Amber Extreme Heat warning, as temperatures increased.

The heat started to subside a little from Wednesday, July 20 with temperatures dropping to 21C and 20C.

The Met Office said July 2022 was the driest July for England since 1935, and the driest July on record for East Anglia, southeast and southern England, according to provisional statistics.

It said high pressure dominated the UK for much of July, pushing any Atlantic influence, and therefore much of the rain, into the northwest and allowing temperatures to build elsewhere.