Weather History 2023

January The period December 8th – 18th was particularly cold with a minimum of -5 deg. . Unusually, snow did not melt for several days leading to extended ice formation.

February The most striking feature was the lack of rain, only 4 mm and the lowest we have seen since measurements began in 2014. Temperatures were in line with what we have measured previously.

March A very wet and dull month 128mm of rain – a record for March since our measurements began in 2014. March was the wettest in England 1981. Some compensation for the very dry February and late January.

April April, like March, was a dull and cool month and unusually April was very slightly cooler than March. Much of this was the result of northerly winds which still continued on the 1st of May. Rainfall for both March (128 mm) and April (71.6 mm) was the highest we have measured over 9 years.

May There is a continuing theme here, temperatures in March, April and May have generally been on the cool side . This was brought about with winds in the north or east . Night-time temperatures were slightly cooler than in April. Rainfall about average, concentrated in the first ten days of the month.

June The warmest June we have measured, with a mean high temperature of 25°C. The Met Office average mean (high and low temps for the UK) of 15.8°C was the highest on record. Rainfall was low for the month.

July What a miserable wet summer month with 110 mm rain, a record for the last 10 years. July 2022 saw record temperatures and little rain. Unusually south westerly winds dominated throughout the month.

August Surprisingly similar temperatures to July, but somewhat less rain. After record breaking temperatures in July last year, disappointing weather dominated in both July and August. Positioning of the jet stream over northern UK kept our temperatures relatively low, in contrast with the very hot weather in southern Europe.

September One of the warmest Septembers experienced, particularly in the first half of the month and accompanied by long periods of sunshine. The second half of the month was dominated by heavy rainfalls,.

November was rather wet and towards the end of the month, cold.

December was a very wet and mild month, it also being the wettest in the last 10 years. The mild weather is in contrast to December 2022 when we had temperatures down to -5°C and snow at the beginning of the month.