England and Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Mainly dry sunny and very warm. Very high temperatures mid month with heath and moorland fires breaking out. More unsettled last week as rain and thunder affected many places.
Diary of Highlights:
1st to 3rd
An active front swept SE bringing sunny spells and blustery thundery showers on the 1st, thereafter sunny periods and warmer, with mostly light scattered showers.
4th to 9th
Mainly dry as an anticyclone over the UK migrated NE to Scandinavia, later extending a tongue southwestwards towards the region.
It became sunny and warm or very warm inland during the 4th and 5th but colder after with overnight frost though still mostly sunny. The 9th saw some patchy sleet in places.
10th to 12th
Cold especially at first with widespread overnight frost, a band of light sleet and snow affected Southern England during the 10th. At Hawarden near Chester minus 7.5°C was recorded.
Mostly sunny by the 12th after clearance of early morning mist and fog patches.
13th to 18th
Mainly dry, sunny and very warm as the Scandinavian high became the dominant feature of the weather. Some light rain in S areas on the 14th left dust deposits.
Southerly winds brought extremely high temperatures inland, with Wolverhampton reaching 27.3°C on the 16th. This was the highest April temperature in the UK since April 16th 1949. Records were broken in many places.
Some areas had moorland and heather fires, one near Bolton on the 15th. A stiff easterly breeze from the 17th fanned outbreaks in W Surrey and Hants during the 18th.
19th to 23rd
More changeable as a shallow low from the south brought cloud and lower temperatures. Forest and moorland fires affected parts of Wales, Cornwall and Dorset on 20th.
Thundery showers broke out early in the SE on the 21st, giving a second dust fall in places, thundery rain also affected Cumbria and NW England.
Dry sunny and warm weather returned on the 22nd and 23rd, however rain moved into the SW later.
24th to 30th
Mostly unsettled and sometimes windy as low-pressure systems from the North Atlantic tracked close by or over the UK. Bands of rain and showers often heavy with thunder affected many parts especially in the W and NW of the region.
Rain on the 25th, with a few thundery showers in the south on the 26th. This was followed by widespread wind and heavy rain later on the 27th and into the 28th.
There were locally heavy thundery showers in the NW on the 29th, while more thundery outbreaks affected W and S areas during the 30th.
Statistical details:
 |
| England and Wales Mean Temperature Series (series begins in 1961). |
The mean value for the month was 9.3°C |
2.0°C above the 1961-90 average, which is in the exceptionally above average category. 3rd warmest in series, and warmest since 1987, when 9.6°C was recorded. |
| England and Wales Rainfall Series (series begins in 1961). |
The total for the month was 43.3mm |
74% of the 1961-90 average, which is in the below average category. Driest since 1997, when 24.2mm was recorded. |
| England and Wales Sunshine Series (series begins in 1961). |
The total for the month was 6.42 hours per day |
136% of the 1961-90 average, which is in the exceptionally above average category. 3rd sunniest in series, and sunniest since 1990, when 6.81 hours per day was recorded. |
|
The period 1961 to 1990 is the current World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) period for taking climate statistics.
