The Ronaldsway Meteorological Office has confirmed that May was the warmest on record in the Isle of Man.

The mean 24-hour temperature across May came to 13.1°C, exceeding the previous record of 12.9°C from 2008.

13.1°C is also two degrees above the 1991 to 2020 30 year average, and three degrees above the 1961 to 1990 30 year average.

The lack of cold nights contributed most to the average warm weather, with the mean minimum temperature for the month being 10.6°C, above the previous record of 9.8°C from 2022 and a full 2.5°C above the 1991 to 2020 30 year average.

The warmest day of the month was May 18, with 20.9°C achieved at Ronaldsway.

Back in April, the forecasters at Ronaldsway confirmed it was the fifth consecutive month with above average rainfall, with a total of 138.3mm collected, exceeding the previous record of 130mm in 1961.

It was the wettest April on record in the Isle of Man.

This level of rainfall did not continue into May, but it was still above average during the month.

Rainfall totalled 68.4mm in the gauge, which is roughly 25% above average. Most of this was on a few very wet days; May 13 and 14 with 22mm, and May 22 and 23 with 32.9mm.

The dry and warm spell mid-month was also useful for night sky watchers, coinciding with an ‘unusually’ strong aurora borealis (the northern lights) on May 10.

The mean wind speed across the month was 8.7 knots, which is roughly two knots below the long term average - the seventh lowest on record. There were no gales, and just two days with strong winds.

Sunshine came to 195.2 hours, 15% lower than the average for May. The best day was May 21 with 15.1 hours.