June starts the meteorological summer in the northern hemisphere but a quick look back at May reveals it was cooler than average over the bulk of Europe. Most countries from Poland to Italy probably had their coldest May for over 10 years, but this is still be to confirmed by the National Meteorological Centres. Meanwhile, Southern Iberia was warmer than normal and it was notably warm in Turkey.
The World Climate Service map on the main page shows an estimate of the temperature departure from the 30 year average, with red being warmer than average and blue cooler than average.
The front half of June is expected to be unsettled and cool with low pressure dominating the weather maps. The weather patterns will change only slowly and although there will be some bright or sunny spells, the prediction is for periods of heavy rain together with below average temperatures.
The temperatures will struggle on the wet days with values only achieving 12 to 15 Celsius for much of the UKand Ireland. The sun is strong at this time of year, so even on the drier days, the maximum temperatures will reach 19 degrees. We're unlikely to see a repeat of the 27 to 28 Celsius observed in some places on the first weekend of the month. Meanwhile, on mainland Europe, we're expecting some strong thunderstorms to develop.
Signals for the weather patterns in the second part of June are fairly weak, but most likely we will experience longer periods of pleasant weather and less occasions of heavy showers. The chances of a significant heatwave are fairly low, but a few consecutive hot days can't be ruled out.
We'll return in a couple of weeks to see how the signals are looking for the remainder of the summer, but for the start of June it's looking wetter and cooler than average overall.
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