Diary of Highlights

1st to 3rd
A cold northerly flow was experienced for the first few days, with widespread frosts and icy conditions away from north-facing coasts.

There was a mixture of sunshine and showers with wintry spells over the hills on 1st and 3rd. A more general area of rain with sleet on higher ground moved south during 2nd.

There were some very cold nights with -11.3 °C at Shap (Cumbria), -8.2 °C at Keswick (Cumbria) and -8.0 °C at Leeming (N Yorkshire) early on the 1st.

Temperatures struggled to rise by day in the Midlands northwards, with only 2.1°C at Church Lawford (Warwickshire) on 1st, but nearer normal in the south.

4th to 5th
An Atlantic low gave rain, sleet and snow although the snow was mainly confined to northern England especially over Cumbria, the Pennines and northeast England.

Accumulations of 5 to 10 cm were recorded in the Vale of York, and 15 to 20 cm over higher ground. Further south, a milder westerly flow meant rain or sleet was reported.

There was a marked contrast in daytime temperatures, with barely 2 °C in the northeast on 4th but up to 11 °C on the south coast.

6th to 11th
A ridge of high pressure moved east during 6th and 7th leading to a spell of mainly dry, fine weather.

However, there were sharp night frosts and freezing fog patches, with a minimum temperature of -8.5 °C at Topcliffe (N Yorkshire), -6.7 °C at Leeming, -5.6 °C at Hurn (Dorset).

During 8th, a band of rain moved erratically south across northern parts of England, into the Midlands during the evening. A cold, showery northerly then set in bringing a return of sunny spells, wintry showers and night frosts.

12th to 15th
There was a change to less cold but more unsettled conditions as Atlantic lows moved in, becoming slow-moving to the north of Scotland and also over the continent.

An occluding front moved east early on 13th, giving a period of very heavy rain for a time in many areas, with 53.0 mm at Shap (Cumbria) and 37.6 mm at Dunkeswell (Devon).

Flooding was reported in parts of Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire and the West Midlands. Strong winds came ahead of the rain band, with gusts 40 to 50 m.p.h. being reported quite widely.

It turned drier and colder again on 14th and 15th albeit with a few showers.

16th to 18th
It was a changeable period. On the 16th staying cold in the southeast with freezing fog slow to clear. However, south-westerly winds moving in on the 17th brought a change to milder conditions.

Thereafter it was often very windy with periods of heavy rain and gales across northern areas, especially on 19th and again on 20th with reports of flooding over parts of the northwest.

The south saw a good deal of dry weather and temperatures remained rather mild.

19th to 25th
There were several days of mostly dry and mild weather during this period. Westerly winds often brought cloudy skies, though a few bright intervals occurred mainly in the east.

There was occasional drizzle across western coasts and hills. Temperatures were well above average on these days, with Westleton (Suffolk) recording a maximum temperature of 14.7 °C on the 20th.

26th to 31st
There was a return to very cold, but mostly dry conditions. Easterly winds developed, ushering in some very cold low-level air from the continent.

Initially, cloud amounts were variable and most places saw some decent sunny spells, but there were sharp frosts night and morning.

With time, cloud amounts tended to increase, and as winds fell light, freezing fog became more of a problem and night frosts became locally severe.

With fog and low cloud persisting all day towards the end of the year, many places on the 30th and 31st had daytime maxima below freezing including -4.4 °C at Shap, and -3.5 °C at Keswick.

Night minimums included -9.6 °C at Shap and -7.2 °C at Woodford (Greater Manchester).