The Island is officially hotter this summer than it has been in previous years, the Bermuda Weather Service said this week.

?A number of people have commented on the above average temperatures we have had over the last two months,? meteorologist Declan O?Connell said.

May?s long-term climate average is 75.4 degrees Farenheit, he said, but the average daily maximum recorded for May 2004 was 78.9 degrees ? nearly four degrees higher than normal.

June was also warmer than normal, with an average daily high of 83.7 degrees ? about three degrees higher than the long-term average of 80.6 degrees.

Over the last two months, daily record highs were set twice in May and three times in June.

And the daily recorded high was also matched three times last month.

June 30 was the warmest day of the year so far, with a high of 89.5 degrees, but this record will soon be smashed if this rise in monthly temperatures continues.

Mr. O?Connell said that temperatures around 90 degrees are usually expected later in the summer.

He said they ?cannot be sure that this trend will continue throughout the summer? but a number of factors may be contributing to the heat.

It may be hotter as there has been less rain, he said. Bermuda received less than 50 percent of the average rainfall expected to fall in June.

?We have not had the cooling effect of rainfall, and more of the sun?s energy can go into heating, rather than having to evaporate rainfall.?

While May?s rainfall was closer to average, ?most of the rain fell over two days in the first week of the month,? he added.

This summer may also be warmer than normal due to hurricane damage.

Hurricane Fabian destroyed or damaged a lot of trees that would normally have provided a shading and cooling effect for the Island.

External factors such as global warming may also be having an effect, he said.