Damp around the edges

A burst water main on our street earlier this year

Summer’s predominantly wet weather has thrown up an endless array of records across the UK. Today the Met office confirmed that this Summer has been the wettest since records began in 1766. From June 1 to August 28 the UK endured a record 358.5mm of rain (14in). June was the wettest on record with a whopping 134.5mm of rainfall. July finished as the nation’s fourth-wettest, missing the record books by 5mm. August reported a single day with temperatures above 30°C (August 5). Last year we enjoyed 20 days above 30°C .

Not surprisingly, Bradford council reports that attendance at its outdoor public pool is down 50% on last year's figure of 61,000. At the height of summer the pool attracts over 2,000 people daily. So far this summer the average attendance hasn’t hit 2000 people a week.

However, not every venue is suffering. As the rain and flooding drives people indoors cinemas are enjoying record crowds. In July more than 21 million admissions were reported. This beat the previous monthly record of 19 million set in February 2002. Likewise, online retail sales have jumped 80% year-on-year to a record £4.2bn in July. Domino's Pizza reports record levels of home delivery sales.

The opposite was true for high street retailers. Mark & Spencer reported its weakest quarterly sales for nearly two years. JJB, a large sports chain reports sales are down, as does B&Q, a major, outdoor furnishing and hardware retailer. We’re definitely seeing the impact at the supermarket. Harvest damage has slashed the potato and onion crop, likewise strawberries, peas and other summer crops are in short supply.

I’ll be doing my best to grab my last dose of summer in Spain next week. I’ll be in Madrid for a week of business meetings. The forecast is for sunny weather most days with highs of 32°C.