Coolest August in past 20 years

Tomorrow the summer holidays are officially over in Spain and many of the thousands of people returning home from the Balearics this weekend will be smarting over the awful weather. This month has in fact been the coolest August in the past 20 years with average temperatures as much as three degrees below last August's temperatures. But rainfall and sunshine records have also been beaten with many tourists going home with an album full of snaps of people running for cover from the torrential rain and empty beaches under grey skies. The average temperature for this month has been 25ºC, last August the average was 28ºC with temperatures reaching record highs on a number of days last year. But while August has not been this cool since 1984, it has not been this wet in the Balearics since the early 70*s. 209 litres per square metre of rain has fallen at Lluc over the past four weeks and Majorca's two main reservoirs, Cuber and Gorg Blau are near to over flowing. Balearic Met office sources said that this month “the weather has been autumnal, with temperatures lower than usual and with much higher rainfall.” Usually, the Balearic summers are marked by subtropical high pressure weather fronts bringing long hours of clear skies and high temperatures, but this summer, according to the Met office, there has been an unusual and steady flow of air from the north, “much more common in the autumn,” which is the reason why temperatures have been lower than usual. The weather station at Ibiza airport, for example, recorded 30 hours less sunshine this month. Last year, 327 hours of sun were recorded at the airport, this month 297 hours were logged. Sa Pobla saw just 273 hours over the past four weeks, much less that the 304 hours recorded last year. Other figures currently being dealt with is the extent of the damage which has been caused over the past few weeks and the Balearic government has agreed to help cover the costs. A number of areas were severely flooded, especially Palma and the local authorities are arguing over who is to blame for the disaster in the capital two weeks ago.