Retrospectives

April 2003 & 2007 - warm dry April's

The temperature then reached 27.4C (and so passing the magic 80F barrier with 81F) at Stratfield Mortimer (Beds) on the 16th. Remarkable for being the third highest April temperature ever recorded, and the highest since 1949. It stayed hot on the following days too as the warm weather moved further north. On the 17th 26.9C was reported at Lochcarron (Wester Ross) which was a new April record for Scotland, there was 27C at Prestatyn (the highest Welsh record since 1893), and most remarkably still 22.1C as far north as the Orkney Isles. The warmth was the result of a gentle southerly flow all the way from North Africa but it was accompanied by widespread Saharan dustfall from the 13th to the 21st. Some of the daily ranges of temperature were remarkable too as they often can be in late Spring. Altnaharra (Highlands) on the 18 April saw an enormous range of 28.2C (from its 24.5C maximum to a -3.7C minimum the next night). Over Easter though much colder easterlies developed coming off a still chilly North Sea and put paid to any further warmth . The long dry spell also ended as well after the 22nd. On the east coast, areas like Loftus & Whitby, had had no measurable rain for 42 days, from 13 March to 23 April. Overall the month was the warmest since 1987 and was the eighth warmest on record. it was the sunniest since 1990 as well. 

However, if we thought this was good there was better to come. April 2007 was warmer still overall, with a CET of 11.2C, some 3C warmer than average and by far the warmest since records began (the previous record holder was 1865) . In this April too there was a notable dry warm spell through to midmonth. The highest temperature of the month was 26.5C (just under the magic 80F) at Herstmonceux (E. Sussex) on the 15th. It was alo another very dry month with most places seeing no rain until the last week. The average England and Wales rainfall was 13mm, 18% of the average,and so it was also the driest since 1957 with some parts of the south coast (around Thorney Island and Canterbury) seeing no rain all month. To top it all it was also the second sunniest April on record (1893 was the sunniest), with a total England and Wales sunshine figure of 238 hours. Sadly it does not look as if 2010 is set to break any similar records in any of these areas.