Stornoway's spell of dry weather 'unique'

Dry spells are not uncommon, but this time Stornoway has had no measureable precipitation

Stornoway in Lewis has reached its 22nd consecutive day of a long dry spell.

Lewis-based Meteorologist Dr Edward Graham said the weather from April to June in the Western Isles often involved little rainfall.

But he said this recent spell was unique because there had been no measureable precipitation.

Dr Graham said islanders should expect a "shock change" in the weather later this week. Wind and rain are forecast for Wednesday.

The scientist, who is based at Stornoway's Lews Castle College UHI, said: "The west of Scotland and Western Isles are normally dry at this time of year.

"What is unique about this dry spell is that there hasn't been any measureable precipitation.

"Typically, there will be two weeks or so of fine weather but in that time there is a shower or two that bring 2mm of rain, and that affects the statistics."

'Rain forecast'

Meteorological equipment can detect as little as a tenth of a millimetre of precipitation, but not even that tiny amount has been recorded in the past 22 days in Stornoway.

Available weather records for the town go back to 1930.

Since then there have been three previous significant long dry spells in 1958, 1974 and 2008. But all involved small amounts of precipitation.

Dr Graham said: "Over the last 22 days there has been 0.0mm of precipitation."

He added: "But we look set for a bit of a shock on Wednesday with wind and rain forecast."