IT has been the driest first half of September for more than 50 years.
Warm, dry weather across Chard and Ilminster has been replicated across much of the country and proivisional Met Office statistics show it is the driest first half of this month in available records back to 1960.
The fine weather has been welcome to event organisers including the Chard Urban Water Slide which was bathed in glorious sunshine.
There has been just 6.7 mm of rain across the UK, up to September 15, which is just 7% of the month average of 96mm.
The UK mean temperature so far has been 13.9C, which is 1.3C above the full-month average.
Looking at individual countries, Wales has been the driest with less than 1mm of rain up to the 15th. Northern Ireland is just ahead, with 1.2mm of rain. England has seen 4.1mm and Scotland has seen 13.5mm.
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