England and Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Summary: Sunny, mainly mild but significant snow fell in second week and end of month.
Diary of Highlights:
1st - 3rd
Frequent spells of rain as low pressure and associated fronts stalled then drifted south, some outbreaks were thundery over southern counties. Mild at first but wintry showers in NE later.
A swollen Thames caused local flooding in the Chertsey/Weybridge area on the 3rd.
4th to 6th
Cold with sunny periods and some wintry showers in east coast counties. There was overnight frost and some substantial snow in E Kent later on the 6th.
7th to 10th
An anticyclone to the north brought very cold ENE winds, snow, and widespread overnight frost.
The Thames at Oxford was reported as being the highest since 1947.
The extreme SE saw 2 to 5cms of snow early on the 7th which brought chaos during rush hour. More snow on the 8th affected Greater London south to the M25, NW Kent, Essex and parts of Surrey. Between 4 and 8cms fell in most places, with up to 12cms in Essex. In central London it was the heaviest since February 1991. Occasional wintry showers later.
11th to 14th
As the high slipped south the frost and patchy freezing fog was displaced by mainly drier and milder conditions. Minus 9.9°C at Redhill on the 12th . Windy later with some hill and coastal fog in the west.
15th to 17th
A deep depression to the N, brought changeable weather and sunny periods. Rain belts affected the region on the 15th and 17th , with thunder in NW areas on the 17th and a gust of 72 knots at Capel Curig.
18th to 22nd
Very wet in most places as complex low pressure crossed the UK to the North Sea. There were frequent outbreaks of rain and showers, some heavy with thunder, becoming more scattered on the 22nd.
23rd to 27th
Breezy but mostly dry with reasonable sunny spells, although there was some rain in the N on the 24th and 25th.
An anticyclone to the SW brought very mild air to many places on the 26th and 27th, East Malling in Kent reached 17.4°C probably making it the warmest January day in England on record.
28th to 31st
Low pressure over the Baltic and high pressure over the N Atlantic and Greenland fed progressively colder air southwards.
Snow showers on the 29th left significant falls over Wales and parts of the SW and central southern England, some thunder was also reported.
Later during the 30th more substantial bands of snow affected east coast counties, East Anglia, Essex, Beds and Herts, giving between 5 and 12cms in most places. N and NW suburbs of London also experienced a period of heavy snow late afternoon and early evening. There was major disruption and gridlock on motorways in Essex and Herts, some tube networks were also affected.
Statistical details
 |
| England and Wales Mean Temperature Series (series began in 1961). |
The mean value for the month was 4.2°C |
0.8°C above the 1961-90 average, which is in the above average category. |
| England and Wales Rainfall Series (series began in 1961). |
The total for the month was 83.7mm |
94% of the 1961-90 average, which is in the close to average category. |
| England and Wales Sunshine Series (series began in 1961). |
The total for the month was 2.35 hours per day |
142% of the 1961-90 average, which is in the exceptionally above average category. 2nd sunniest in series, highest 2.40 hours per day in 2001. |
|
The period 1961 to 1990 is the current World Meteorological Organization (WMO) period for taking climate statistics.
