Preston has its own Met Office weather station, that has been recording the local weather for 75 years. It is based at the Jeremiah Horrocks Observatory (JHO) on Moor Park in Preston. This is run by the University of Lancashire, through its Jeremiah Horrocks Institute. The weather station was set up in 1951 and has been recording the local Preston weather ever since. It records details such as maximum daytime temperature and minimum night-time temperature every day, as well as total rainfall each day, and other details such as wind speed and direction.
On June 26th this year it recorded a maximum daytime temperature of 32.6 degrees Centigrade. This is a new record. The previous record was set in June 1976, and was 30.6 degrees Centigrade. This might not seem like a lot, but it is a clear indication of global warming, and that this even affects mild climates such as we experience in Preston.
It was also extremely dry in June, with half of the days registering less than 1mm of rain, and 10 days recording no rain at all. Total rainfall amounted to only 14mm in the entire month – that is about half an inch of rain in a month – and half of that fell in one day. In June 1976 we had 17mm, the previous driest June.
Professor Derek Ward-Thompson, Jeremiah Horrocks Director