UK climate summaries

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From The UK metoffice
   March 2012 Summary

Most of the month was influenced by high pressure, although there were short unsettled spells around 3rd-6th and 17th-18th. Eastern England received some welcome rainfall on 4th, 5th and 17th, but apart from this much of the month was dry, adding to mounting concerns about drought. As well as the dryness, the period 23rd-30th was remarkably sunny across virtually the whole of the UK. Daytime temperatures rose strongly, with many new station records, and also new monthly extremes for Scotland being set.

The provisional UK mean temperature was 2.5 °C above the 1971-2000 average, ranking 3rd warmest in a series since 1910 and the warmest March since 1957. More remarkable still was a maximum temperature anomaly of +3.6 °C, narrowly setting a new record for March. Most of the UK was much drier than average, the exceptions being East Anglia and east Kent. Most of Wales, Northern Ireland, south-west England, parts of northern England and eastern Scotland had less than a third of their normal rainfall amount. However, March 2011 was drier than this in England and similar in Wales. For the UK it was provisionally the driest March since 1953, and the 5th driest since 1910; in Northern Ireland and Eastern Scotland it ranked 3rd driest. Sunshine amounts were well above normal, exceeding 150% for most of the UK; indeed this was provisionally the sunniest March in England in a series since 1929.

A maximum temperature of 23.6 °C was recorded at Aboyne (Aberdeenshire) on the 27th. A minimum temperature of -8.5 °C was recorded at Braemar (Aberdeenshire) early on the 18th. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 on the 19th, 45.6 mm of rain fell at Cluanie Inn (Highland). A wind gust of 71 mph was recorded at Blackford Hill (Edinburgh) on the 7th. A snow-depth of 3 cm was recorded at Aviemore (Highland) at 0900 on the 8th.

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April 2012

With low pressure over or near the UK for most of the month, the weather was generally unsettled with numerous showery days. There was some snow in northern areas early in the month and longer spells of rain especially in the last week.

 The UK mean temperature was 0.6 °C below the 1971-2000 average, and it was the coldest April since 1989. Unusually, Apr�il was colder than March (the last time that occurred was in 1998) and the temperature failed to reach 20 °C anywhere (this last occurred in April 1989). Most of England, Wales and eastern Scotland were much wetter than normal, making it provisionally the wettest April on record across the UK (somewhat wetter than April 2000). Much of eastern and southern England, east Wales and eastern Scotland recorded well over twice the normal amount, with three times normal in places. The number of days with rain was comparable to that in April 1998, the highest in the last 50 years. Only the western fringes of Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland were drier than average. Sunshine amounts were close to or somewhat below normal over most of the UK, but it was sunnier than usual along the west coast of Scotland, the Western Isles and the west of Northern Ireland.

 A maximum temperature of 19.7 °C was recorded at Kew Gardens (Greater London) on the 30th. A minimum temperature of -8.2 °C was recorded at Braemar (Aberdeenshire) early on the 5th. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 on the 30th, 46.0 mm of rain fell at Liscombe (Somerset). A wind gust of 76 mph was recorded at Warcop Range (Cumbria) on the evening of the 29th. A snow depth of 22 cm was recorded at Whitehillocks (Angus) at 0900 on the 3rd.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_latest_weather.html

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May 2012

May 2012

The first three weeks were dominated by cool and, at times, unsettled conditions — continuing the wet theme of much of April. A marked improvement occurred from 21st, with a much warmer and more settled spell. Temperatures rose above 27 °C at least somewhere in the UK each day from the 23rd to the 28th. With prolonged sunshine, it was particularly warm across Highland Scotland, and a new May temperature record for Scotland was set on 25th.

The UK mean temperature was 0.5 °C above the 1971–2000 average, the very warm spell towards the end of the month offsetting the earlier cool conditions. The rainfall pattern was variable, but totals in many areas were near average. However, it was drier than normal across much of south-west and central-southern England, and wetter than usual in parts of Scotland, northern England and Suffolk. Apart from south-east England, May was somewhat sunnier than average, notably across northern Scotland where, provisionally, it was the third sunniest May on record.

 A maximum temperature of 29.3 °C was recorded at Achnagart (Highland) on the 25th, a new May record for Scotland. A minimum temperature of −6.2 °C was recorded at Saughall (East Ayrshire) early on the 5th. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 on the 14th, 101.0 mm of rain fell at Kinlochewe (Highland). A wind gust of 67 mph was recorded at Blackford Hill, Edinburgh during the evening of the 13th.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_latest_weather.html