NEW- Monthly weather summaries from January 2009

Monthly UK weather summaries for 2009

January 2009 -A dry cold start then mild wet & windy

High pressure was initially dominant, especially in the south giving severe night frosts & daytime temperatures close to or below zero with freezing fog & rime at times. Central and eastern England saw moderate snow on the 5th with snow lying for a week ih hilly areas like the Chilterns. On the 7th the temperature fell to -11.9C at Chesham (Bucks) and only reached -3.0C at Little Rissington (Gloucs) on the 9th.

It then became wet in the NW with 150mm at Shap (Cumbria) in just two days on the 10th-11th but it was also mild with 13.8C at Machrihanish (SW Scotland) on the 11th, though windy. After midmonth it became notably unsettled; on the 17th a maximum gust of 85kts was reported at at West Gerinish on the island of South Uist (Western Isles) . It was the souths turn on the 23rd when a notably deep low of 964mbar crossed the area. It was the coldest January since 2001 with the rainfall rather below normal in eastern areas but above in western and southern Britain; it was a sunny month too overall.

February 2009 -a cold wintry start then mild

February was another variable month like January, that started cold, the first half being 3C below average across England & Wales but became notably milder, the second half being 3C above average here, so ensuring it saw about average CET temperatures.

Unlike January, it was mainly rather dull though, with only East Anglia seeing above average sunshine; the north of Scotland seeing just 60% of the average and NW England 65%. Though a wet month at first, it was well below average by the end, but with some notably wet spells in places. The exception was SE England which saw yet another wet month, though most fell in the first two weeks, with around 145% of average, whilst Wales and NW England were notably dry with just 30% in the NW of the February verage.

A lot of the rain fell as snow in the south and SE especially; around the 2nd there was 41cm at Wisley, 39cm at Epsom Downs & 33cm at Leatherhead (all Surrey). This was the deepest snow in this area for around half a century, since December 1962. There was a snow depth of around 15cm over most of inner London which was the greatest depth here since early February 1991. Parts of North Yorkshire also had a lot of snow. On the 6th more snow fell over an area from Cornwall right through to Norfolk; generally about 10cm, but up to 25cm across Dartmoor and again across upland south Wales and the SW Midlands on the 10th.

There were some notably cold nights in February, as low as -19.4C at Grantown on Spey (unofficially) and -18.4C at Aviemore on the 9th, helping lead initially to rather negative soil temperature anomalies at the near surface but these had returned to near normal by the month's end.

On the same day (9th) in the extreme SW, the Scilly Isles recorded 56mm of rain with a max of 10.5C, whilst up to 120mm was estimated to have fallen at Princetown on Dartmoor(Devon). It warmed up though after mid month, in fact the 17th saw 15.0C at Aberfeldy (Perthshire). Near the end of the month on the 27th, Kew Gardens (London) reported the highest temperature of the month, 15.4C, in a day with 10 hours of warm springlike sunshine. May 15th saw a wet night and day in places. As low pressure dominated heavy rain brought 31mm to Charlwood (nr Gatwick) overnight before moving north where Bingley (Yorks) saw 22mm in the 12 hour period to 7pm. In the 72 hours period up to 06Z Saturday 16th Scampton (Lincs) recorded 52mm, ending a lengthy dry spell. However it wasn't wet everywhere and much of the south coastal strip for instance remained quite dry. Thunderstorms developed along with the heavy showers too and along the south coast quite strong SW'ly winds for a time, Newhaven ( East Sussex) reported gusts to 60mph and the northeast of Scotland also saw strong E'ly winds, Inverbervie on the coast (Aberdeenshire) recorded easterly gusts to 61mph.

March 2009 -another two halved month

March was a month of two halves again; a cold wet start then drier and somewhat milder by day after around the first week, and dominated by high pressure. Though it ended just 0.3C above average across England & Wales this belied notable differences and was partly the result of a period of cold nights due to the anticyclonic conditions with relatively dry ground; the NE of England was up to 1.5C above average (and parts here were notably dry after the 8th). The cold start saw Bramaer (Aberdeenshire) fall to -9.6C on the 4th/5th. Temperatures rose somewhat though during the rest of the month and the highest monthly temperature of 18.5C was also in Scotland at Altnaharra (Sutherland) on the 20th, even more notable for its daily range of 23.0C (see below). Rainfall was above average in north & west Scotland but well below elsewhere. In fact parts of the east saw their 5th successive dry month; East Anglia saw less than half of its expected rainfall, exacerbating the increasingly dry ground. However, the month will probably be best remembered for its large sunshine amounts. Large areas of the UK, except N Ireland and N Scotland, saw in excess of 150% of the average, parts of the north of England seeing up to 175%. Parts of the southwest & Channel Isles were especially sunny from midmonth onwards. It was windy initially with 77knts (88mph) reported at Foula (Shetlands) on the 8th but much less so for the rest of the month.

April 2009- rather sunny, dry and mild

April was a generally fairly sunny, fairly dry and fairly mild month overall. The first week was especially dry and sunny nearly everywhere. Temperatures ended up about 1.7C above average overall but the east of England saw as high as 2.5C in places and even the far north was around 2.0C above average with N Ireland the most chilly with its positive anomalies closer to a degree. East Malling (Sussex) was the warmest spot on the 15th seeing 22.1C, not an especially high overall maximum temperature for April but pretty warm nevertheless. The coldest spot was at Kinbrace (Sutherland) on the 19th with -5.8C but the month was notable for a high number of ground frosts, these probably exacerbated by the relatively dry ground. It was another notably dry month in places especially down the eastern half of the UK, East Anglia seeing its 6th dry month in succession and the NE seeing only around 25% of the expected average. Northern Ireland was again the exception to the dry rule, seeing around 130% of average. The far SW saw a notably wet day on the 25th when 65mm fell at the Scilly Isles giving flash flooding in Penwith area. Plymouth saw 33mm on the 15th as well. Sunshine was near or slightly above average for most areas but especially across east Anglia where around 140% was recorded. As mentioned it was a fairly frosty month inland, especially in central and eastern parts but not particularly snowy; some was reported though in upland Wales as late as the 27th of the month

May 2009 -an average month with a dry start and cold middle

May was a generally fairly average month is respect of sunshine and rainfall but temperatures ended nearly a degree above average though across England and Wales. There was a very warm start to April but the 29th was the warmest day with the average maximum near 24C, some 7C above average. The maximum temperature of the month was in Scotland at Invercassley on the 29th too, when 26.5C was reached. However, a cold spell midmonth from the 11th-14th saw some low temperatures in Scotland and Kinbrace recorded -4.7C on the 11th. Until midmonth it was quite dry nearly everywhere but on the 14th it become more unsettled, dull and wet, Scampton (N Yorks) reported 33mm on the 14th, the average E&W total being as high as 10mm. After the 20th though it generally became drier and quite sunny, as high pressure dominated for many and there was an average of 15 hours sunshine across E&W on the 29th but this only managed to bring sunshine back to just about the expected average overall. Frosts were rather above average for May overall but winds a little below average.

June 2009 - an average month with a short mid month cold spell then a hot end

June started sunny & warm with 27.2 reached at Lee on Solent (Hants) on the 1st and 2nd saw 26.9C there & by the 3rd it marked a week of temperatures reaching above 25C somewhere across the UK every day. By the 5th colder weather moved south & June snow fell in places across the north, in particular on the Pennines, where it was reported at Alston in the NE Pennines, also in Weardale, Upper Teesdale. The 6th/7th saw a band of heavy rain became established across south-east Wales, the south and east Midlands and across to northern England and heavy thunderstorms affected the Exeter area, with 27mm recorded between 08-09Z and 93mm from 07-20Z . The 15th saw funnel cloud & tornado development across many parts with some short-lived weak tornado's developing too with local flooding for a time especially Strood in the Medway, and Ringstead, Hunstanton, Heacham, Watton, & Sedgeford in Norfolk. Ipswich was particularly hard hit with 30mm of rain falling onto the town. After a warm period the 25th/26th saw more thunderstorms develop after Heathrow Airport reached 28.0C. A thundery trough moved slowly north across the south west and southern coastal areas there was a lot of heavy rain locally, Bournemouth reported 27mm in all. It was a muggy night too & central London didn't fall below 17C. The last day of June, 30th saw the hottest day of the year so far -and the hottest for nearly 3 years. Wisley (Surrey) reached 31.3C but thunderstorms developed in the late evening.

Overall N & W Scotland and N Ireland were unusually sunny with over 150% of the average sunshine recorded and N Scotland was dry, along with the SE and E Anglia where only about 60% of the average rain fell in June. The last third of the month was notably warm too reaching about 3C above average across England and Wales.

July 2009-rather dull and wet

July was a wet month almost everywhere, though temperatures were near average generally but it was rather dull. An early warm start saw 30.9C at Heathrow on the 2nd and 30.7C at Wisley on the 3rd. However it was locally very wet in storms. Copley near Barnard Castle, (Co Durham) reported 53.0mm between 1400-1440Z and 22.2mm between 1440-1630 on the 1st July. Severe storms developed in places on the 6th and 7th July as a thundery low pressure area sat over the eastern UK. Flooding hit parts of Perth and Kinross after heavy rain storms on the 6th, Tyne and Wear Metro services were suspended due to flash flooding. Early on the 7th Hastings (E Sussex) saw severe storms which led to localised flooding- an unofficial report suggested as much as 90mm may have fallen in a 3-4 hours from 4am to 7.45am though it was very localised. Macclesfield (Cheshire) & Hemel Hempstead (Berks) saw flash flooding & in Central London, torrential rain, pea sized hail and thunderstorms closed Victoria Station at the height of afternoon rush hour on the 7th as well as several major underground stations at Victoria, Westminster & Paddington. Brighton (East Sussex) saw six seperate thunderstorms on the 7th, along with some torrential rain causing localised flooding. A number of funnel clouds were observed too during the day at Loch Levan, (Tayside) Castleford (W Yorks) and Abersoch (Gywnedd) on the 6th and a possible tornado on the 7th near Ashby (Leics) and funnel cloud south of Norwich (Norfolk) By the 8th the rainfall was 200% up on the average. Mid month saw more wet weather with up to 100mm (4 inches) of rain in parts of North East England in a 24 hour period on the 16th/17th July, causing 58 flood warnings to be issued. Loftus (Northumberland) reported 67mm in 24 hours to 18Z on the 17th. The River Wear rose 6ft in a short time causing extensiving flooding and thunderstorms developed on the 16th quite widely but especially in the south & south east. Two thirds of the way through the month the temperature had fallen back to average however rainfall in England & Wales was up to 241% of the average, with some areas seeing as much as 350% of average. The end of the month was also wet and windy too; Scilly saw 61mm in the 24 hrs to 21Z on the 29th and Liscombe 53mm as slow moving fronts gave copious amounts of rain in some areas of central southern England and the Midlands. Capel Curig gusted to 62mph early on the 29th.

August 2009- rather dull & wet in the north, drier in south

August was a wet month in the north especially Western Scotland which saw over 250% of average rain fall exacerbating the problems caused by the wet July but it was quite dry in the south, including the SW and SE, with 2/3rd of average rainfall. Temperatures were near average generally though it was quite warm in east Anglia. Overall it was rather dull though again E Anglia was slightly sunnier than average. On the 3rd a min of 3.3C was reported at Braemar (Aberdeenshire) but generally a frontal boundary plagued England all the first week & did not finally clear into the continent until early on the 7th as a major upper trough moved east engaging a warm continental air mass ahead of it, it was very warm ahead of the trough for a few days, East Malling (Kent) reaching 29.2C on the 6th. By the late afternoon though some heavy rain moved north and north east with embedded thunderstorms in it and gave locally torrential downpours over a 12 hour period to some areas in the south and east. 24 hours totals to 06Z on the 7th included Holbeach (Lincs) 61mm (and 56mm from 18-06Z) , Boscombe Down (Wilts) 48mm and 52mm at Royston (Herts). Nowhere saw especially high temperatures during the month but 30.3C was reported at Gravesend (Kent) on the 19th but in contrast it was wet in the north with 78mm falling in 24 hours at Eskdalemuir (Dumfies & Galloway). Although the period from the 23rd-24th was again very warm in the east (28.4°C at Weybourne, Norfolk) it was much more unsettled further north and Spadeadam (Cumbria) gusted to 62kt (71mph). The month ended changeable again, it was windy on the 26th with a gust of 55kt (63mph) at Capel Curig (N Wales) and 63mph at Polruan (Cornwall) (some data reproduced kind courtesy of Philip Eden).

Soil temperatures were near or slightly below average around the UK though slightly above in East Anglia & sea temperatures remained above average around most parts especially around the eastern Channel and southern North Sea but were slightly below average in the Irish Sea. The sea temperature gradient was still above average to the SW of the UK around 45N but notably below average around 55N tending to potentially enhance cyclonic development from the far south west, west of Iberia.

September 2009-dry and fine

September was a dry, fine month generally. Temperatures were near or above average overall, although it was quite warm in the SE and east Anglia. Maximum temperatures ended about 0.5C above average and minimum temperatures around 0.7C above averSage giving an overall CET figure of about 0.6C higher than normal. The highest temperature of the month was reported at Gravesend (Kent) with 28.7C on the 8th and the lowest was tied: Kinbrace (Sutherland) on the 19th and Katesbridge on the 20th both recorded as low as -1.2C. Sunshine was above average just about everywhere except the far north where it was quite dull locally; for example up to mid month N Ireland saw as much as 132% of average but N Scotland just 85%. Whilst it was dry generally away from Scotland (where the east had seen as much as 225% of average at midmonth) , especially in East Anglia and parts of the SE, there were also localised anomalies due to storms.

The 2nd was a very wet day with an average of 15mm across England & Wales as the remnants of an ex tropical storm 'Danny', swept across the UK giving some very wet and windy weather for many areas. Gusts of 63mph were reported at Polruan CG (Cornwall). Capel Curig in N Wales reported around 67mm of rainfall in about 36 hours. and then as the heavy rain moved north east it affected Eastern Scotland; Lossiemouth reported 76mm in the 24hour period to 0900BST on the 4th (its monthly average is just 61mm). Just over 67mm of rain fell in Aberdeen in the same 24 hour period to 0900 BST, giving it its wettest September day on record. More than 600 homes in Moray were evacuated and the local authority described it as a 'major incident'. The 8th then saw the 2nd warmest September day in the last ten years with, as mentioned above, 28.7C recorded at Gravesness (Kent) and 12 hours of sunshine at Manston (Kent), however the northwest saw the effects of the deep Atlantic low pressure that was pumping up all this warm air further east. Stornoway (N Isles) gusted to 73mph and unofficially a gust of 79mph was reported at Eoropie on the Isle of Lewis. A lot of rain fell too, with 63mm in 24 hours to 21Z at Tyndrum, leading to mudslides closing the road on the A83 at Rest and Be Thankful, west of Loch Lomond (Argyll). On the 15th a short lived ENE'ly flow and a slow moving frontal system gave locally very heavy deluges from the NW of London through London & then SW into Surrey; South Farnborough recorded 57mm of rain in the 24 hour period to 21Z. After that high pressure dominated for much of the time giving calm quiet weather with some overnight fog and a few ground frosts (some data reproduced kind courtesy of Philip Eden).

Soil temperatures were somewhat above average around the UK esp through East Anglia & the SE; sea temperatures remained rather above average around most parts also, especially around the eastern Channel and southern North Sea (+2C) but were nearer average in the SW approaches and Irish Sea and slightly below off part of the NW Irish coast by the month's end. The sea temperature gradient was still generally above average to the SW of the UK around 45N (although the anomaly was decreasing) but notably below average around 55N tending to decrease cyclonic development north west of Scotland.

October 2009-a fairly average month though quite dry

October was a reasonably dry, fine month again. Temperatures were near or above average overall, & up to 1C above average across the Midlands. Maximum temperatures ended slightly above average but minimum temperatures were generally above a degree above average. The highest temperature of the month was reported at Coningsby with 21.2C on the 6^th but later on Gravesend (Kent) saw 19.6C on the 27^th and the lowest was Aboyne on the 18^th with -3.7C.  Sunshine was below average just about everywhere except the W Scotland where it was quite sunny locally; whilst it was dry generally with east Anglia again seeing only half its normal rainfall. parts of Northern Scotland were above average, albeit only slightly.
On Oct 5ththe remains of TS Grace moved south of Ireland as a sub tropical system and then ran across Wales. At one stage it had mean winds of 60kts. This is probably the most northerly storm to develop and the closest a true tropical storm has been to the UK in around 50 years of monitoring such events, though by the time it reached Wales as a hybrid storm with some tropical characteristics there wasn’t much of its wind field left; in the SW gusts to 55mph were reported at Polruan CG. On Oct 7th very mild moist air mass to the south of the UK and a cold front pushing south across southern parts meant low pressure developed to the south and the very high moisture levels allowed heavy rain to move across southern and SE areas . Southern coastal counties from SE Devon east into SE England saw 30-35mm of rain in about 30 hours and Shoreham reported 40mm, though there were reports of higher amounts across the upland areas of the South Downs.
By the 20th a dry period ended for some as some heavy rain swept up across the SW and Wales. The wettest place was Chivenor in North Devon with 38mm falling in the 24 hours to 18Z. Elsewhere, it was a rather low key October with the weather in a quiet pattern, warm for a few days around the 27^th though it became very unsettled by the month’s end from the west.

Soil temperatures were slightly above average around the UK esp through East Anglia & the SE; sea temperatures remained rather above average around most parts also but were nearer average in the SW approaches and Irish Sea by the month's end.

November 2009 -unsettled wet and windy

November was, by any account, a wet month. Rainfall was around 190% across England and Wales but as high as 250% across NW England and central and southern Scotland. The only exception to this was East Anglia where rainfall was closer to average. However temperatures were above average overall & up to around 2.5C above average across the SE of England and East Anglia. Whilst maximum temperatures ended up slightly above average it was minimum temperatures that were generally well up on the average, with the incidence of frost well below average. The highest temperature of the month was reported at Heathrow (London) & Gravesend (Kent) on the 1st with 17.4C, whilst the lowest was tied, both Braemar (Aberdeenshire) and Cromdale (Highland) saw -8.6C on the 9th. Sunshine was well below average in the western UK but above average elsewhere especially eastern districts where 125% was reported.

November begun mild, wet and quite windy: there were gusts of 66kt at the Mumbles (Swansea) with some high rainfall totals as well along with short lived but locally severe flooding in Huntly (Aberdeenshire) and Stonehaven (Kincardinshire). Boulmer (Northumberland) reported a 34 hour total of 52mm. November 8th-10th was a colder period in parts of Scotland; Braemar (Aberdeenshire) fell to -7.6C on the 8th/9th & as mentioned above, Braemar & Cromdale (Highland) fell as low as -8.6C on the 9th/10th. As fronts became slow moving in a very moist tropical maritime airmass, November 18th-19th saw a very heavy rainfall event across many parts of Wales, the NW and S Scotland. Seathwaite (Cumbria) reported 314mm in a 24 hour period, one of the highest 24 hour totals ever recorded in the UK. This caused severe flooding downstream in the catchment areas around Kendal and Cockermouth (both Cumbria) with loss of life and several bridges washed away, along with severe damaging flooding, especially in and around Cockermouth. Parts of southern Scotland were also badly affected. Gravesend (Kent) reached 17.3C on the 21st, close to the all time record for this day. Finally, on November 28th/29th a deep low of around 970mb, developed to the SW and then ran east into north Devon overnight before sinking slowly ESE on the 29th. Wind gusts of 86mph were reported at Polruan CG station near Fowey and 80mph at Lands End (both Cornwall) overnight. Fylingdales (North Yorks) recorded 42mm in 24 hours. There was localised flooding in Devon especially around Plymouth & Exeter. Further flooding was reported in Yorkshire overnight, as the wrap around occlusion became slow moving.

Soil temperatures were above average around the UK esp through East Anglia & the SE; sea temperatures remained rather above average around most parts also but were nearer average in the SW approaches and Irish Sea.