Why has it been so cold in June in 2024?

13 June 2024, 11:44

June temperatures have been less than desirable but is there a reason it's been so cold? And what's the forecast for the rest of the month? Here's what the weather experts have to say.

Summer officially begins in June but for 2024, the start of the warmer months so far has brought wind, rain and rather chilly temperatures - so why has the weather been so cold?

With promises of heatwaves and having recently just had the hottest May on record, Brits had high hopes for a warm summer, especially after 2023 failed to deliver on the sunny front too.

And while we should have been dusting off BBQs, sprucing up our gardens and swapping wellies for sandals, June has only delivered cooler than average temperers so far.

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Here's what the experts are saying about why June has felt so cold this 2024 and what the outlook is looking like for the rest of the month.

Why has it been so cold in June?

Our hopes of a hot spell aren't very high at the moment and Dr Robert Thompson, a meteorologist from the University of Reading, has told The Independent it could continue for some time.

Explaining the summer chill, he said an Atlantic jet stream is bringing cold air across the UK from Greenland and Iceland.

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This means the strong winds blowing from west to east, which are more south than normal for this time of year, have brought cooler winds leading to lower temperatures across the country.

He also added, that because of global warming, we have grown used to hotter temperatures in June but actually, these lows are not entirely unusual for this time of year in the UK.

Will the weather get warmer in June 2024?

As this stream eventually moves northwards, higher pressures will resume across England and Wales and temperatures will hopefully return to average.

Dr Thompson forecast: "It looks like we will return to a more normal position toward the end of this weekend." He also believes temperatures this summer will be above average.

What's the Met Office weather forecast for the rest of June?

Saturday 15th - Monday 17th June

Bright with unsettled showers, that are sometimes heavy, throughout the weekend. Temperatures should be nearer to normal for this time of year at around 18-20C.

Monday 17th-26th June

Killing all hopes of a heatwave, this time period will be a mixture of dry spells and showers with temperatures around normal or just below for this time of year,

27th June - 11th July

Mixed weather types again, with rain and showers favouring the north and west of the country., Prolonged dry spells are likely in the south with temperatures expected to be slightly above average.

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