Monthly retrospective for May 2016

It was quite but not especially a warm month temperature wise but rainfall was very variable due to the showery nature of the precipitation although wet in places, though sunshine was very close to average again, as in April in the main for most parts.

The (Hadley) CET mean temperature was near 12.5C, about 1.4C above average. Whilst nowhere was below average many parts were only just above average. The pressure was near average right across the UK.

The warmest mean maximum was at Heathrow (outer London) with 18.9C and surprisingly the highest daily maximum was 27.7C as far north as Plockton in Ross and Cromarty.
The coldest mean minimum was at Aboyne (Aberdeenshire) with 4.6C, the coldest absolute minimum by night was -5.7C at Tulloch Bridge in the Scottish Highlands with -9C on the grass. This was the lowest temperature in May for 4 years.

May was both a dry and wet month in places, Inverbervie in the Highlands

February forecast synoptic summary

Week 1 from the 1st-7th February will initially see low pressures run northwest of Scotland and towards Norway with higher pressure across the south by the 3rd, but by the 4th a further deep low pressure system running across the north west by early on the 5th into the 6th and a secondary low deepening and possibly swinging NE across the south or Midlands and into the North Sea. By the 7th a chilly polar flow from the N-NW across all parts.

In week 2, from the 8th-14th a chilly polar maritime flow will dominate across all parts initially but further fronts into the west by the 9th as a low pressure system runs NE'wards across the northern UK on the 10th but with a colder PM flow behind it by the 11th, a blocking high pressure area may ridge north across the mid Atlantic for a few days at this time, but by the 13th its ridge maybe building into the NW  and as it sinks south east on the 13th into the

Monthly retrospective for January 2016

It was very mild but very wet in places in the north & west but rather dull too esp in the south. The (Hadley) CET mean temperature was near 5.7C, about 1.9C above average. A number of daily maximum temperature records were broken on the 24th & 25th and the all time high minima January records too, in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.

January saw temperature anomalies range from about 2C above average in the far south to just below average in the far  northern Isles. The warmest place by day was St Mary on the Scilly Isles with a mean maximum temperature of 10.8C. The warmest daily maximum was at Achnagart in the NW Scottish Highlands where 16.5C was reached on the 24th. The coldest mean minimum by night was 1.8C at Lossiemouth in eastern Scotland. Pressure was 2mb below average in the far northern Isles but 10mb below at Valley on Anglesey attesting to the unsettled nature of the month in the main.

January

Monthly retrospective for December 2015

It was exceptionally mild but very wet in places in the north & west but rather dull too esp in the south. The (Hadley) CET mean temperature was near 9.8C, the highest mean in December recorded since records began, making it warmer than November 2015 (which in itself was very mild) and 5.2C above the normal average. A number of daily maximum temperature records were broken.

December saw temperature anomalies range from about 1-2C above average in the far north to over 6C above on the southern English coast. Hurn (Dorset) was 6.4C above average, and thus was exceptionally mild. The degree of this warmth cannot be overemphasised but it is interesting and quite significant that no weather agency was able to forecast it in advance. It cause may to an extent be due to the extent of the ongoing El Nino event and/or possibly global climate change but there is no definite scientific agreement on this. The warmest places by day were

Summary

• Temperature-  overall mean (CET for England); rather above average (+1.5C)
• UK rainfall –  rather above average (120% of the average)
• UK sunshine – rather below average (85% of the average)
• Winds- rather above average strength & predominantly likely to be W-SW’ly

December forecast synoptic summary

Week 1 from the 1st-7th December will initially see high pressure across France but low pressure to the NW  and a southerly flow developing on the 3rd though low pressure running across the south and works away SE on the 4th with pressure rising from the west but further deep low pressure will be near Iceland giving a stronger gradient across the UK. Another low seems likely to run NE from the Atlantic towards N Ireland & W Scotland by late on the 5th, and further deep low pressure areas running

Monthly retrospective for November 2015

It was a notably mild but wet month for most and very dull in the south, though sunshine was near average in the far north. The (Hadley) CET mean temperature was near 9.6C, a full 3C above the average. The record for the highest ever temperature recorded in the UK in November was broken on November 1st with 22.4C at Trawscoed, Ceredigion.

November saw temperature anomalies range from about 1-2C above average in the north to over 3C above in the central south. One of the warmest places by day was Guernsey with a mean maximum temperature of 13.7C. The coldest mean minimum by night was 2.3C at Aboyne in the Highlands. Pressure was 6mb below average in the far northern Isles but 4mb above in the Channel Isles, attesting to the strong pressure gradients at times.

November was a notably wet month in places, Shap Fell in Cumbria saw about 230% of it normal rainfall and compared to its 25% last month Edinburgh saw 215% of its

Monthly retrospective for October 2015

It was a rather dry month away from the NE and east coasts and often dominated by high pressure but dull in the south, though quite sunny in the main in the north. The (Hadley) CET mean temperature was near 11.0C, slightly above the average.

October saw temperature anomalies range from rather above average in far northern parts (Lerwick in the Shetland Isles was 1.8C above average) to near average elsewhere. One of the warmest places by day was Heathrow with a mean maximum temperature of 15.7C. The coldest by night was again Shap Fell with a mean minimum of 4.0C. Most of the UK was just above average in fact. Pressure was very much higher than average, as much as 8mb in parts of

Monthly retrospective for September 2015

September saw temperature anomalies range from just above average in far northern parts (Lerwick was 0.8C above average) and well below average in parts of the south Midlands (Hereford & Benson were 1.7C below average). One of the warmest places by day was Hurn with a mean maximum temperature of 18.8C. The coldest was Shap Fell with a mean minimum of 5.4C. However, most of the UK was only just below average in fact. Pressure was about 2mb above average over most northern parts and near average in the south.

September was a notably wet month in places at first in the south east & east but became much drier by the end. However, parts of the east still saw above average, Wattisham saw about 125% of its normal amount of rain but elsewhere it was generally rather dry. Much of Western Scotland & NW England and N Wales & N Ireland saw just 30-35% of its average rainfall.

Generally, it was rather sunnier than

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Brought up in Portsmouth, Plymouth and Falmouth, Dave was always particularly close to our maritime climate and says it was perhaps why he developed an early interest in the effects of the weather and in particular how it effects peoples' lives. By the time he was fifteen he was regularly submitting his monthly weather readings to the Climatological Observers Link (COL).

After joining the Met Office he worked in the vastly different environments of Kew Observatory, London and Heathrow Airport. During the eighties he left the Met Office to concentrate on developing a media and educational side to his career, gaining both a BA in TV and Media Communication and an MA Hons in Information and Communication Technology in Education.

In 2002 he started his own weather company Wiseweather (www.wiseweather.co.uk) and has been a regular contributor to various weather forums for over ten years now, having produced a wide variety of forecasts for the 'UKWeatherworld' site and others over