Weather

The Island and Royal Manor of Portland can boast of having one of the best climates in the British Isles. Winters are mild and, because of the surrounding sea , generally snow and frost free. Summers are long and warm with many days of long hours of sunshine and low rainfall.
As with all seaside areas there is usually a light breeze, and this makes Portland renowned for its sailing and windsurfing, indeed many National and International events are staged in Portland Harbour for this reason.
Those of us fortunate enough to be living on the Island will tell you that we have our own micro- climate, and often watch, through our sunglasses, the rain clouds drifting by on the inland side of the Ridgeway.
It would however be dishonest to say that bad weather never visits the Island. We do occasionally suffer severe winter gales, and the sea becomes a threatening but spectacular and thrilling sight.

Since Chesil Beach protection works were carried out in the late 70's flooding of the Chesil area of Portland by the sea has become a thing of the past and new development of the area has taken place.
Below are some weather statistics extracted from the Meteorological Office web site. The full picture can be seen by visiting this site at; www.metoffice.com (This site is also listed on our links page)

All figures are averages for the years 1961-1990.

Hours of sunshine Daily average:
June 7.5
July 7.5
Aug 6.5
Sept 5.5
Yearly average 4.5
these are among the highest in the UK
Monthly Rainfall average
April-September total 300mm
October-March total 450mm
June 50mm
July 50mm
Aug 50mm
Average over any whole year 800mm

Comparative figures :
N. Wales 2000mm
Mid Wales 1200mm
S. Wales 1000mm
Cornwall 1000mm
Scotland 800mm (Edinburgh)
3200mm (Fort William)

Average wind speed 10kts

average number of days Oct-Mar with snow lying = 1
average number of days with grass frost
<10
average number of days with 0.2mm rain or more =160 ( lowest in UK)
average number of days with 10mm rain or more <20 ( lowest in UK)