Sheffield enjoys sunniest August since 2009

There were 194.3 hours of sunshine in the city, compared to the average of 183 – a figure that has not been seen since 2009, when there were 194.5 hours.

The weather station at Weston Park, run by Museums Sheffield, recorded a high temperature of 27.5C, lower than the 30.5C July high.

Mixed in with the hot weather was a fair amount of rain, with 69.4mm recorded, just above the 63mm average. It was slightly wetter than last year but a long way behind 2014, when 105.2mm of rain fell.

People in Sheffield made the most of the sunshine at events such as Sheffield Fayre at Norfolk Heritage Park.

Curator of natural science at Weston Park, Alistair McLean, said: “I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was incredibly sunny but it was sunnier than average. It wasn’t a bad one.”

The weather station has 30-year average figures, and from those can deduce trends across the year.

“August is not the sunniest month,” said Alistair. “July is actually the sunniest, usually.

“What’s interesting about August is these periods of heavy rainfall. They are quite common.”

He added: “It’s a result of conditions and energy release in the atmosphere. When that happens all hell can break use.

“But we’ve not had many reports of thunder. There have been one or two rumbles heard but we haven’t had the big interesting storms.”

Forecasting far ahead into September is almost impossible, but those planning camping trips this weekend might be wise to think twice.

Alistair said: “The weekend is going to be a little bit rough. I would stay at home.”