Diary of Highlights

1st to 6th
It was an unsettled first week to the month with temperatures close to normal. Strong southerly winds on the 1st gave a gust of 62 knots at Brixham (Devon) and western parts had some heavy rain. Low pressure dominated the weather through to the 6th.

On the 6th a cold front spread south across the UK, giving almost 2 inches of rain at Cardinham near Bodmin (Cornwall). Gusts of wind regularly exceeded 50 mph across exposed western parts, and on the 3rd a gust of almost 70 mph was recorded at Mumbles (Swansea).

A deep depression moved into the southwest on the 2nd, central pressure 960 hPa at midday and the wind gusted to 69 knots on the Isle of Portland (Dorset) and 63 knots at Brixham (Devon). Bands of rain or showers swept across England and Wales over the next few days with the distribution varying day by day.

At Odiham (Hampshire) 36.8 mm of rain was logged in the 24 hours to 1800 on the 2nd. Western and southern coasts were sunny on the 4th with 7.1 hours of sunshine recorded at Falmouth (Cornwall).The wind eased by the 5th as the low centre filled.

7th to 10th
A weak ridge of high pressure early on the 7th gave widespread frost and fog and in parts of the Kent and Sussex the fog lingered all day. Heavy rain reached the west later and some rain crossed all parts overnight. Trawscoed (Ceredigion) reported 28.4 mm in the 24 hours to 1800 on the 8th.

Slack winds on the 9th allowed patchy fog and frost to develop with some dense and freezing fog in places. It was mild generally but cold in the southeast of England, where fog lingered all day in places.

High pressure on the 10th gave a generally dry day with some sunshine in the south. It was exceptionally mild in parts of the west and a maximum of 13.5 °C was reached at Prestatyn (Denbighshire).

11th to 15th
High pressure was established to the south on the 11th giving westerly winds for most. Fog lingered all day in parts of the West Country and did not want to clear in central parts of England. The temperature only reached 2.5 °C at Benson (Oxfordshire).

A smoke plume from a big oil depot fire at Buncefield (Hertfordshire) affected London and parts of southern England on the 11th and 12th. A cold front spread south overnight and the next morning, lifting fog and low cloud from southern counties.

A few showers followed in its wake over eastern England. High pressure then gave a couple of days of generally dry weather with variable cloud.

16th to 17th
A cold front brought some rain southwards on the 16th followed by northerly winds and some showers along western and east coast fringes. There was some hail in the east and a covering of snow in parts of Norfolk by dawn on the 17th.

Hail and snow showers were frequent along the east coast of England as far as East Anglia on the 17th but many places were sunny. Wales and southwest England had some light rain. At Warcop Range (Cumbria) the temperature stayed below freezing all day.

18th to 20th
There was a weak ridge on the 18th, and then a warm front spread into the west giving some heavy rain in places in the evening, this spread across southern parts overnight but decayed. The 19th was dry and largely sunny, but there were some showers over southwest England. There was some fog early and late on in the day.

High pressure to the south on the 20th gave a widespread frost with some fog patches across more south-eastern parts. It was mainly dry and cloudy through the day.

21st to 24th
This period was typified by mild and mainly cloudy weather. There was some rain in places but more especially in northern parts.

There was some sunshine on the 23rd over east Wales, the West Midlands and northeast England where it became very mild. Hawarden (Flintshire) had a maximum temperature of 13.1 °C on the 23rd. Some rain spread south on the 24th clearing the patchy fog in the south that had formed overnight.

25th to 29th
An anticyclone became established on the 25th and pressure remained relatively high for the next few days. There was some patchy rain on the 25th and later in the day showers moved into East Anglia. Some rain edged east on the 26th across England but petered out before it reached Wales.

Sunny spells and showers followed in its wake and the showers turned wintry over Essex and Kent where the snow settled. It turned colder over the next couple of days with east to northeast winds across England and Wales. Further wintry showers affected eastern England from the Humber to East Sussex and across the Pennines on the 27th. There were reports of 10cm of snow in Rye (East Sussex), 15 to 18cm of snow around Folkestone (Kent).

The following day, wintry showers continued in eastern coastal counties of England with 8 cm of snow reported in Ipswich (Suffolk), 10 cm in Lincolnshire and 15 cm in Northumberland. Western parts were largely sunny. The mornings of the 28th and 29th brought a locally severe frost with -8.2 °C at Benson (Oxfordshire) on the 28th, -10.6 °C at Albemarle (Northumberland) and -9.2 °C at Hurn Airport (Dorset) on the morning of the 29th. Many places stayed below freezing on the 29th.

At Durham the maximum was -3.9 °C and in central London the maximum to 2100 was just 0.9 °C. The showers in the east eventually petered out. Outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow spread into western parts in the afternoon and evening.

30th to 31st
Rain, sleet and snow spread east overnight and through the day followed by some heavy rain. The snow was last to clear from northeast England and at Redesdale (Northumberland) the maximum was just 0.4 °C, while several places reached 12 °C in southwest England.

The snow caused some travel disruption with 200 vehicles stranded on the A1079 in East Yorkshire for a time. Many areas were milder on the 31st. There were showers in the west but some persistent fog in the northeast of England until dusk.