Electricity North West weather watch - July
Electricity North West weather watch - July
Although last month marked the start of the meteorological summer we had a busy start to the month with severe gales causing damage to the power network across the region.
Our engineers worked around the clock in difficult conditions and successfully restored power to almost 16,000 customers.
Helwith Bridge in Settle was the worst affected with 4,700 customers off supply and power was restored to all customers in under thirty minutes. Read more about how we restored power to customers here.
High winds can cause trees and debris to blow into overhead power lines, causing power cuts and we always urge people to stay away from any fallen power lines and report it as soon as possible.
Meteorologist Nick Prebble from MeteoGroup tells us what the weather has in store for us for July.
Look back: June
The first month of the meteorological summer was wetter and slightly warmer than the seasonal average over North West. Rainfall amounts during the month were nearly double the June normal, mainly thanks to wet spells both early and late in the month. Meanwhile, temperatures were just under 1C higher than average for June.
There were some marked variations in the weather from week to week over the past month, with the first half being the wettest. Indeed, there was a run of particularly wet weather from Monday 5th through to Saturday 10th with Cumbria experiencing the most prolonged rainfall during this period. Tuesday 6th June was the wettest individual day with 45.6mm of rainfall recorded in Blencathra, Cumbria. This day also happened to be one of the chilliest days of the month with a maximum temperature of only 10C at Blencathra and only 14C at Blackpool.
The second half of the month saw drier conditions for a time as low pressure areas moved away further north, although there were heavy showers and thunderstorms on the 21st. It also became much warmer with a notable run of very warm days from Wednesday 14th to Wednesday 21stJune, when temperatures reached or exceeded 25C somewhere in the North West region every day.
The last few days of the month then saw heavy rainfall migrating around the UK, with this affecting the North West for a couple of days and again gave 24 hour rainfall totals in excess of 30mm in places.
Look ahead: July
The first couple of weeks of July will see the North West undergoing changeable weather conditions due to a variable pressure pattern, with temperatures often close to average aside from a brief burst of warmth this week. Low pressure extending in from the North East Atlantic will provide spells of rain at times along with fresh winds, conditions that are not totally unfamiliar at this stage in the summer over the UK. Despite the prospect for periodically unsettled upcoming weather, significant and/or frequent heavy rainfall events are not currently anticipated.
After mid-month, there are then some signs that warmer air masses could become a more frequent visitor from the south allowing temperatures to rise above average, with the prospect for some drier and calmer conditions too. The main uncertainty lies in how persistent any warmth will be, with an additional potential hazard of thunderstorm breaking out as humid air drifts over the UK and into the North West.
In the event of an unexpected power cut you can contact us 24/7 on the new free national number 105 or call 0800 195 4141 or let us know on Twitter @ElectricityNW.
If you need extra support, sign-up to our Priority Service Register here. To discover more about the extra support on offer watch our Priority Service video here.