England and Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Summary: Mostly cold wet and windy after a warm dry start. Some overnight frost later in the month.
1st to 10th
Warm and mostly dry with sunny spells especially at first.
Prestatyn (Clwyd) reached 23.8°C on the 1st, however occasional rain affected some areas during the first few days.
Thereafter the weather became mainly dry and sunny but there were some mist and fog patches around dawn.
As low pressure moved away to Denmark on the 5th, a weak ridge of high pressure extending from north Scandinavia settled over the region for a few days.
Atlantic fronts brought rain to SW districts on the 8th and 9th as a low passed close by reaching France by the 10th and bringing chilly ESE winds to many areas.
11th to 15th
Unsettled, mostly cold, very wet and windy.
A slow moving front gave very heavy rain to the N and NW during the 11th and 12th.
A low crossing southern areas on the 13th deposited copious amounts of rain especially over SW England and S Wales causing serious flooding in places. Pembrey Sands near Swansea received 72mm in 12 hours.
Another low gave heavy rain on the 15th in the SW, Midlands, SE and eastern counties with some places having their wettest October day on record. Dunkeswell in Devon totalled 120mm in 4 days.
A Tornado at Torquay on the 15th damaged a church roof and uprooted trees, while others in Essex near Colchester and Maldon caused damage to outhouses.
16th to 19th
A quieter interlude after rain cleared from East Anglia early on 16th, Lowestoft had 63mm in 24hours from some thundery outbreaks.
Thereafter it was mainly rather cold and dry with frost at night, apart from a few showers in the extreme SE on the 17th and 18th.
Rain spread back into the SW later on the 19th.
20th to 24th
A frosty start in the north, Shap /Cumbria falling to minus 6.2°C early on the 20th.
More heavy rain (with local flooding) fell in the north on the 20th and 21st as a deep low tracked NNE over the UK. Mostly cold and showery after with some thunder and also some snow falling over the Peak District and Cumbria.
25th to 27th
The 25th brought gales and squally showers, some with thunder as a vigorous low passed to the north.
At Portchester/Hants a tornado/whirlwind did much damage to roofs, garages, walls and fences.
The 26th was quieter but rain and thunder affected the SW later.
On the 27th a deep depression moved from SW Ireland to NE England bringing rain and storm force winds, Mumbles near Swansea had a gust of 84 knots. There were some fatalities and widespread damage to trees and power lines bringing disruption to road and rail networks.
28th to 31st
Dry at first, then occasional rain with patchy mist, hill and coastal fog from the 29th to the 31st.
This has been the first month since December 2001 to be colder than average.
Statistical details
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| England and Wales Mean Temperature Series (series began in 1961). |
The mean value for the month was 9.8°C. |
0.4°C below the 1961-90 average, and is in the close to average category. |
| England and Wales Rainfall Series (series begins in 1961). |
The total for the month was 134.3mm |
158% of the 1961-90 average, and is in the well above category. 6th wettest October since series began in 1961. |
| England and Wales Sunshine Series (series begins in 1961). |
The total for the month was 3.16 hours per day. |
103% of the 1961-90 average, and is in the close to average category. |
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