Temperatures in Reading generally rise slightly as July progresses, with maximum temperatures increasing from about 22 ºC at the start of the month to 23 ºC towards the end, and minimum temperatures changing from about 12.5 ºC at the beginning to 13.5 ºC at the end. The average temperature overall in July is 17.8 ºC at the university. July temperatures have ranged from 36.0 ºC to 4.9 ºC during the period 1908-2014 in Reading. 37.6 ºC was recorded on 19 July 2022 with 36.0 ºC on 25 July 2019. But on 7 July 1910, 8 July 1917 and 31 July 1917 the maximum temperature could only reach 13.3 ºC with 13.4 ºC on 5 July 1920. At night temperatures dipped to 4.9 ºC on the morning of 25 July 1978, but nights remaining above 15 ºC are quite common. High minimum temperatures include 20.1 ºC amd 20.0 degC on 19 July 2022 and 13 July 2022, respectively. Notable hot spells extending into July in which the maximum temperature reached 30 ºC or above each day included a run of 14 days from 14 days from 25 June 1976. The warmest July in the Reading record was that of 2006 (mean temperature 21.1 ºC) while the coldest was in 1922 (14.7 ºC). In the following months a maximum temperature of at least 20 ºC was recorded every day of the month: July 1934, July 1983, July 2006, July 2010 and July 2018. Air frosts have never been recorded in July at the University, although slight ground frosts occur at Whiteknights on about four days in every ten years.
The monthly mean rainfall for July in Reading is about 49 mm, with monthly totals ranging between 155 mm in 1920 and 4 mm in 1921. Daily falls of 25 mm or more of rain occur in about one year in four in July - and about 40 per cent of those falls occur on days with thunderstorms. During thundery activities the rainfall can be very heavy but short-lived - the wettest day in July was 25 July 1941 when 50.3 mm fell.
July is the sunniest month of the year in Reading with 204 h of sunshine, although the month still averages 1.4 sunless days. In 2018 299.7 h of sunshine were measured with just 111 h being recorded in 1965. July 1959 also came very close to breaking the '300-hour' sunshine barrier (298.2 h were recorded). 15 h of bright sunshine can sometimes being recorded in a day during the first week or so of July - in 1959 15.8 h occurred on the 4th.
There is no record of snow ever having fallen in July in Reading. Thunder occurs in July on about 3 days every two years. About one July in seven is free of thunder - while thunder occurred 7 days in 1925. Fog has only been seen on four mornings in July at 0900 GMT since 1968.
All averages refer to the period 1991-2020 unless otherwise stated.
Statistics last updated 1 August 2022.