Much of May was dominated by cold and often wet weather but the late Bank Holiday weekend finally brought a taste of summer.

There was 67 percent more rain at Ronaldsway than normal making it the wettest May since 2015. The mean temperature measured 10 degrees Celsius, more than a degree below the 30-year mean, making it the coldest May since 2015.

The minimum air temperature of 1.5 degrees on the 1st was the lowest recorded in May since 1997.

Sunday 30 saw a maximum of 19.2 degrees, the highest of any month since last September.

More than half of the month’s rain was made up by two very wet days on Monday 3 and Thursday 20 which were the wettest May days since 1992 on record.

The mean wind speed for the month measured 11.1mph and the highest gust of wind was 52mph and measured on Monday 3.

A total of 248.5 hours of bright sunshine were recorded which is slightly above normal and the sunniest day was Sunday 30 with 15.5 hours of unbroken sunshine.

Only four days of hail last month, the highest in May since 1979 and one day of fog but there were no thunderstorms during the month.

Looking back at spring, it’s been sunny, drier but colder than usual.

Spring 2021 ranked third sunniest on record with 629.9 hours of sunshine compared to the long-term mean of 531 hours.

Last year was the sunniest on record with 694 hours.

The record-breaking sunny April was the main contributor.

May was wet but was made up for by the dry March and very dry April.

In total 152mm of rain fell, compared to the long-term mean of 172mm.

The mean temperature for the months March, April and May combined measured 8.2 degrees compared to the long-term mean of 8.9 degrees, making it the coldest spring since 2015.