Northamptonshire was officially the DRIEST county in England during May

Northamptonshire was officially the driest county in the country during a record-breaking May .. and not just because the pubs were closed!

Met Office experts revealed just 1.5mm of rain fell in the whole of last month, that's not enough to cover a 20p piece.

The current run of 29 days without a drop of rain falling in the county is the longest since records began. And the chances of that dry spell snapping anytime soon look less than 50-50.

Dr Mark McCarthy, from the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre, explained: “Much of spring has been dominated by successive areas of high pressure, leading to sunny and relatively dry conditions.

"In February, the Met Office was reporting record rainfall as Storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge boosted totals, making February 2020 the wettest February on record.

“However, Spring 2020 has been very dry and May in parts of England has been exceptionally dry. As it stands this is the driest May on record since 1896, with less than 10mm rain falling across England on average.

"Some locations have recorded far less rainfall than this. Northamptonshire — the driest county so far — only recorded 1.5mm of rain during May.

"To put that measurement into context 1.5mm is less than the thickness of a 20-pence coin. You could lay the coin flat in the month’s rainfall and the Queen’s head would remain dry!"

Northamptonshire averages around 55mm of rainfall during the month of May and was deluged by a record 130mm in 2007. But local weather watches reported the last significant fall in the county was way back on April 30.

Across the UK an average of just 9.7mm of rain fell over the last 31 days beating the previous low of 11.3mm set in 1896 and making May 2020 officially driest since records began in 1862.

And this spring has been the sunniest spring since 1929, beating the 555.3 hours of sunshine in 1948.

As for what's coming, the Met Office say today and tomorrow will be warm with a maximum of 23 °C but Wednesday turns breezier, cloudier and cooler with a 40 per cent chance of some rain and showers in the evening.

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