Garden and greenhouse owners assist with weather monitoring

With so much talk about climate change, the Royal Meteorological Society (RMS) has shown that the UK has experienced a fairly normal August.

Its Weather Club recruited the help of garden and greenhouse experts around the country, who were among more than 250 people used to report on the weather in their respective areas, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) reported.

The volunteers gave feedback on a number of conditions during the months of September and October and, while the results varied dramatically, the RMS claimed there was nothing out of the ordinary in terms of the onset of autumn.

East Sussex’s Peacehaven enjoyed the warmest temperature reported at 24.8 degrees C, while Stirling and Kinbrace in Scotland reached a chilly -4.4 degrees C.

Winds got as high as 102mph in the Cairngorms, and a mix of sunshine and heavy rain was also recorded throughout the country.

Weather Club founder Dr Liz Bentley explained that while there were varying weather patterns this is normal for the UK at this time of year.

"The data certainly confirms that as a small country we manage to squeeze in an extraordinary variety of weather conditions in a very short space of time," she said.

In other news, the RHS has reported that a recent study by Which? Gardening found no evidence to support the use of expensive wildlife shelters.