How cold and wet was July in Suffolk during heatwave abroad

And that happened in the month that scientists say was the hottest ever recorded on the planet.

So what happened? And is there any hope of a bright end to the summer holidays?

Data from the Met Office shows that the UK had the sixth wettest July on record in 2023 - and while Suffolk contributed to that, it wasn't one of the wettest areas.

The weather records from Wattisham show that the area had 85mm of rain in July. That is 153% of the average for the month.

The wet weather didn't put off the crowds at Latitude in July. (Image: Charlotte Bond)

But other parts of the country saw much more rain - in parts of the north west of England more that three times the average rainfall was recorded.

July 2022 was the month when temperatures across much of England neared 40c. The highest temperature recorded at Wattisham this year was 27.8C - and the average daytime maximum was just 21C.

But while we were enduring (or enjoying) a cool, damp, month across the world there were reports of heatwaves in Southern Europe, North America and China which pictures that looked like a vision of hell for most people.

Wildfires in southern Europe were a vision of hell during the heatwave. (Image: PA)

As weather forecasters regularly tell us, this was caused by the position of the jetstream in the upper atmosphere which blocked the hot air from reaching us and ensured the Mediterranean baked.

There is no immediate prospect of the jetstream shifting radically - there are signs of some brighter calmer weather next week but temperatures are not expected to be any higher than the mid-20s.

Forecasters do say that during the second half of August we could get drier, sunnier weather - but again they don't think temperatures are going to be abnormally high.

This year's wet summer has been good for the region's rivers which ran very dry during last summer's drought.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “The higher than average rain in July has had a positive impact on our major rivers.

"After a dry June, rivers in Suffolk have seen a return to more normal flows for this time of year.”

Officials at Anglian Water said that this year's wet summer has been good for them - keeping reservoirs topped up and helping to ensure depleted underground water supplies were topped up.

But the conditions have caused a headache for the region's arable farmers who are struggling to get to grips with the harvest.

Hannah Buisman is an ambassador for the NFU and her family farms arable crops in the south of the region. 

She said: "This time last year the harvest was finished. This year we've hardly started because we really need drier weather.

"As farmers, we become used to having to deal with whatever the weather throws at us - but it's definitely true that we're facing different challenges this year to last.

"One of the main things we may have to do this year is to dry the grain after harvesting."

However while the weather may impact on their production, it is unlikely to have much impact on prices which are set on the world market and are more influenced by harvests in North America and Asia.

And while this year's July temperatures have been lower than recently in the UK, the Met Office pointed out that they were still higher than the average temperatures recorded between 1961 and 1990.