Dr Phil Smith Fortunately, we had a few showers early in the month but not a drop of rain fell after 17th April. According to Rachael Park’s rain gauge, Formby had just 15.5 mm, about a third of the expected amount. This spring drought was also experienced in most of the UK, with high pressure...
I thought we had got away without a spring drought this year but no such luck. May provided begrudging rainfall on only six days and nothing after 19th. Rachael Parks sent me rain-gauge data from her Formby garden. Her May total was 28.5 mm, this being 50% of the long-term average. Met. Office maps for May show that Greater Manchester and north Merseyside were the driest areas in England.
Butterflies in the UK are increasing faster in gardens than in other habitats, on average, underlining the importance of gardens for these important pollinators.
Met Office maps show that, while England had average or above average April rainfall, Merseyside was much drier than usual; it was also on the cool side. Formby had a mere nine days with measurable precipitation and only one properly wet day (10th). As a result, the sand-dune water-table fell by about 12 cm (5 inches). Nevertheless, conditions were nothing like as bad as the spring droughts of recent years.