Sunshine

January 2025 – Weather Summary

The mean temperature in the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. in January was 3.0°C, which was 0.9°C below the 1991-2020 LTALTA Long Term Average. This is usually defined as a 30 year period by the WMO.. Temperatures in thirteen of the twenty five Januaries this century have been below average. Gridded mean temperature, like those in the central England series, show that Januaries in the last thirty years have more or less flatlined, cooling by 0.03°C per decade.
It was drier than average across Scotland, Northern Ireland and in NW England, but wetter elsewhere, particularly across the far south.
Sunshine was above average in most places apart from central southern England and the southeast.

January, Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature

January 2025 – Weather Summary Read More »

February 1986 – the most easterly on record

The most easterly February in the objective LWTLWT Lamb Weather Types are often used in UK-based analyses, with individual weather patterns based on the eight primary cardinal directions (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) plus cyclonic (C), anticyclonic (A) and unclassified (U) types. series, which started in 1871, occurred in 1986, when 64% of weather types were classified either NENE North East, E or SE, with 32% identified as being Anticyclonic. This resulted in a very cold, but very dry (18% of the LTALTA Long Term Average. This is usually defined as a 30 year period by the WMO.) and rather sunny month across the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland., with mean temperatures of -1.1°C, and anomalies -5.2°C below the 1991-2020 LTA.

February Objective LWT
Daily 850 hPahPa A Hectopascal is the SI unit of pressure and identical to the Millibar Temperature Colour analysis

The gridded mean temperature of -1.1°C made 1986 the third joint coldest February since 1884.

In central England the mean temperature for the month was -1.0°C which was -6.0° below the 1991-2020 LTA, making it the joint fifth coldest February since 1659.

CET, February, LWT, Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature

February 1986 – the most easterly on record Read More »

What’s happening to the climate of February?

There had been a slow decline in 30 year mean maximum and minimum temperature in February between 1940 and 1990, but over the last 30 years maximum temperatures have rocketed up at the rate of 0.5°C per decade, although the rise in 3o year average mean minimum temperatures has been a little slower.

Remarkably, the rise in mean temperature seems to have coincided with a corresponding rise in precipitation in February as well. The linear trend from 1865 to 1993 was showing a very slight fall in 30 year average precipitation in February, but since 1994, average precipitation totals have increased by 5.8 mm each decade.

Sunshine in February has seen a rise of 3.1 hours per decade in the last 30 years. Totals have been rather static for the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. for a period that began in 1960 and which ended in 2000.
So, the short answer to the question ‘what’s happening to the climate in February’ is, are they getting progressively warmer, wetter and sunnier.

February, Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature

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February extremes in the UK

Here are anomaly charts for the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. for extreme rainfall, sunshine and mean temperatures during the month of February, courtesy of the UKMOUKMO The Meteorological Office is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Temperature and rainfall anomaly charts are available from 1910, but sunshine charts have only been produced since 2001. Why this is when the Met OfficeUKMO The Meteorological Office is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have all the gridded data to generate them with, is a question only they can answer. Surely it wouldn’t take that much effort to extend the series back to at least 1884 for temperature, 1836 for rainfall and 1910 for sunshine. Perhaps they’re looking for a group of volunteers to do it for them? In a similar way to how a similar group of volunteers digitised the data for them in the first place.😂 Wouldn’t it also be an excellent idea in the spirit of inter Metservice co-operation, to ask Met EireannMet Éireann Met Éireann, the Irish National Meteorological Service, is the leading provider of weather information and related services for Ireland., if they could have their permission to use their climate data to fill in the missing data for the rest of Ireland?

February, Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature, UKMO

February extremes in the UK Read More »

2024 – Weather Summary

The climate across the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. during 2024 was :-

  • Rather warm everywhere, but very warm across much of England.
  • Wet across central southern England, parts of the Midlands and northwest England, but less wet further north, particularly Northern Ireland, where totals were below average.
  • Rather dull, with below average sunshine in much of the west, but brighter further east, with above average sunshine totals across East Anglia and the far east.
Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature, Weather Summary

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Weather Summary – December 2024

December was a very mild month across the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland., the fifth warmest in the UK to be exact since 1884, with a mean temperature of 6.2°C, that was +2.0°C above the 1991-2020 LTALTA Long Term Average. This is usually defined as a 30 year period by the WMO.. Rainfall totals were closer to average though, at 110% of the POAPOA Percentage Of Average, the wetter weather in the north balancing out the drier weather across the south. It was a very dull month across the board, sunshine totals were the fourth lowest since 1910, at just 57% of the POA.

December, Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature, Weather Summary

Weather Summary – December 2024 Read More »

The UK has got warmer, wetter and sunnier since 1995

Using gridded monthly climate data from the UKMOUKMO The Meteorological Office is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and a simple linear trend for over the last thirty year, it’s easy to see that annually the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. as a whole has become warmer by 0.29°C per decade, wetter by 26 mm per decade and sunnier by 30 hours per decade. These three charts are twelve month moving averages from 1970, with a thirty year linear trend from 1995 to gauge the change overlaid.

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Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature, UK

The UK has got warmer, wetter and sunnier since 1995 Read More »

UK 12 month moving averages | 1993-2023

A thirty year linear trend reveals that the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. has become steadily warmer, wetter and sunnier in the last 30 years. The latest 12 month average at the end of December shows that the UK is currently running close to average for sunshine at 102%, but 111% for precipitation, whilst temperatures for the last 12 months are +0.81°C above the 1991-2020 LTALTA Long Term Average. This is usually defined as a 30 year period by the WMO..

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Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature

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June correlations

These two charts underline how warm June and sunny the June of 2023 was across the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.. It set new extremes in most regions, but not everywhere.

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June, Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature

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June 2023 – Weather Summary

It’s official, June 2023 was the warmest June since temperatures recorded started in 1884. Rather surprisingly it only came in as the fourth sunniest. Anomalies show that the north of Scotland was both the sunniest and warmest region in the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. during June.

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June, Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature

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May extremes in Scotland

Courtesy of anomaly charts for the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. from the UKMOUKMO The Meteorological Office is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, here are the warmest and coldest May’s since 1910 across Scotland. Not a huge variation in temperature, ranging from the warmest in 2018 of 2.32°C above to 2.18°C below the 1961-1990 LTALTA Long Term Average. This is usually defined as a 30 year period by the WMO. in 1923. The yellow box at the bottom right-hand corner is the predominant Lamb Weather type for the month. The wettest May in Scotland since 1910 was in 2011 when over 223% of the average rain for the month fell. The driest May was in 1984 when just over 27% of the average fell.

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Climate, May, Rain, Scotland, Sunshine

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15-21 April 2023: A beautiful week of weather

It’s been a beautiful sunny week of weather in StrathpefferStrathpeffer Strathpeffer (Scottish Gaelic: Srath Pheofhair) is a village and spa town in Easter Ross, Highland, Scotland, with a population of 1,469.. Mornings have been cold with a touch of frost in more sheltered spots in the Highlands, but days have been clear and sunny with sunshine from dawn till dusk, that sunshine giving warm afternoons. The easterly wind on Wednesday and Thursday did pick up to moderate occasionally fresh during the mornings to take the edge of things out of the sun. There was a short spell of haar on both Thursday and Friday but it quickly burnt off.

Satellite, Sunshine, Temperature

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Latest 12 month UK Climate averages

Mean temperatures in the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. in the 12 months to the end of January have fallen back a little and are now just a shade below the 10°C level. Twelve month UK rainfall totals continue to bounce back (98% of the LTALTA Long Term Average. This is usually defined as a 30 year period by the WMO.), and are now over 1100 mm, up from the lows of below 1000 mm that were seen in last years the dry spell. UK 12 month sunshine totals continue well above the one standard deviation level (111% of the LTA), and above 1500 hours for the fourth consecutive month.

The climate of the UK is considerably warmer, slightly wetter and much sunnier than it was back in 1993.

Climate, Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature

Latest 12 month UK Climate averages Read More »

Latest 12 Month UK climate averages

  • Temperature across the UKUK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland., in the gridded data series from the UKMOUKMO The Meteorological Office is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy over the last 12 months have peaked, and fell back a little in December, without achieving the dizzy heights of 2007.
  • Rainfall has made a hesitant recovery after the dry winter and spring of 2022.
  • Average 12 month sunshine across the UK is still nudging upwards.
Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature

Latest 12 Month UK climate averages Read More »

The Climate of Northern Scotland since 2000

Dear Diary,
I thought that I would take a quick look at what the climate has been doing since 2000 closer to home by means of 12 month moving averages of the gridded climate data for the North of Scotland and which I download from the Met OfficeUKMO The Meteorological Office is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Mean temperatures have edged fractionally warmer in the last 20 years, whilst annual precipitation has slightly decreased by 6mm per decade, sunshine has increased by 15 hours per decade. Nothing for Greta ThunbergGreta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation to get overly worked up about there then, but linear trends can be deceptive though, and I really should have used a thirty, and not a twenty year period, but what the hell, no one is reading this anyway.

Climate, Precipitation, Sunshine, Temperature

The Climate of Northern Scotland since 2000 Read More »

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