Sean Batty

1 week ago | news.stv.tv | Sean Batty |Gianni Marini

May has turned out wetter than usual in parts of the country — which sounds crazy given how dry the month started — but it’s true. After four to five weeks without a drop of rain in some areas, the dry spell came to a sudden end, right on cue for the late May holiday weekend. And what an end it was. Some of the heaviest downpours hit western parts of the country, where rain and thundery downpours brought more than four weeks’ worth of rainfall in just a few days.

2 weeks ago | news.stv.tv | Sean Batty |Kevin Scott

What’s your favourite smell of summer? Is it the lovely smell of suntan lotion on your skin, the smoky aroma of a sizzling BBQ, the fragrance of blooming roses in the garden, the chlorine of a holiday swimming pool – or that earthy smell of rain hitting dry ground after weeks of sunshine… petrichor? Many of you will have noticed that distinct holiday smell when you step off a plane – not the jet fuel, but that earthy, warm scent in the air.

2 weeks ago | news.stv.tv | Sean Batty

For parts of Scotland, it’s felt like summer arrived early – day after day of sunshine, barely a cloud in sight, and not a drop of rain. It’s been the kind of weather that lets you plan a picnic days in advance and confidently leave the jacket at home. But, of course, it couldn’t last forever… and change is finally on the way. Until now, though, the dry spell has been nothing short of remarkable.

3 weeks ago | news.stv.tv | Sean Batty |Gianni Marini

Some parts of Scotland have been astonishingly dry this spring, rainfall figures reveal. In fact, it’s been so dry that East Lothian and eastern Fife have seen less rain than Gran Canaria, and Tiree has had less than Majorca. When we average things out across the country, Scotland has had around 130mm of rain so far this spring. There’s a hint that things might turn more unsettled in the final week of May, but even with rain, I’d say it’s unlikely we’ll top the 196mm recorded in spring 2001.

4 weeks ago | news.stv.tv | Sean Batty

It feels like forever since we’ve had a proper soaking — though maybe we should whisper that, just in case we jinx summer before it even begins. That said, for the next few weeks, most of the country looks set to remain firmly in the dry zone. But here’s a twist — did you know May is typically Scotland’s driest month of the year? So, while it feels parched, it’s not entirely out of the ordinary to be high and dry at this point in spring.