UK Weather - Spring 2021

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Simon Culling
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Re: UK Weather - Spring 2021

Unread post by Simon Culling »

Hello spwill. We have certainly been on the cold side of the polar front for many weeks, but there are tentative signs of a real pattern change this coming week with drier and slightly warmer weather in the forecast as the NW flow gets cut off. Hopefully the Spring Bank Holiday next weekend will see something better for the hospitality industry to work with.

The deep low (around 982mb) for the time of the year crossed the UK on Thurs/Fri giving wind gusts over 50mph inland and over 70mph on the more exposed coasts in the west and south, but surprisingly little damage reported - quite a few trees are not yet fully in leaf as a result of the cold Spring, so this may have saved some of them. It is wet and breezy again today (Sun 23rd May) as we get ready for the last round of matches for this years Premier League - still a couple of European places to be decided today.

This May has been very wet and may possibly be ranked in the top 20 wettest list (in the series dating back 250 years+ to 1766) which is in complete contrast to April which was the 10th driest on that list.

The CET for May was 9.7°C (-1.1°C) up to the 22nd and the EWR was 101mm up to the 21st, which is 155% of the monthly average.
Simon Culling
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Re: UK Weather - Spring 2021

Unread post by Simon Culling »

The dry and settled weather has duly arrived, with plenty of sunshine for the last couple of days and the temperature moving into the low twenties. It looks like staying around for a few more days and we might see the mercury hitting 25°C on Bank Holiday Monday. In some ways this will be a shame because up to now, the highest temperature this Spring has been the 24.5°C at Kew Gardens, London on 30th March, and it is very rare for the Spring maximum to occur so early in the year. We shall see. It will be a shame if this record fails to happen on the last day of Spring after we have endured 8 weeks of wet and cold weather. :(

The CET for May was 9.9°C (-1.1°C) up to the 28th and the EWR was 121mm up to the 27th which is 186% of the monthly average. The current figure, which is unlikely to rise any further, puts the May rainfall figure as joint 9th wettest in the 256 year EWR series.
Simon Culling
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Re: UK Weather - Spring 2021

Unread post by Simon Culling »

Spring has ended on a warm and sunny one for most of the UK with, sadly, the highest temperature for the season (and year so far) being recorded on the last day - 25.1°C at Kinlochewe in NW Scotland. If the previous high had held, this may well have been the first occasion for a long time that the Spring high was recorded in March - it has not happened since at least 1961.

The warm weather will remain for a couple more days as we enter the meteorological Summer, but a few thundery showers are possible here in the SW tomorrow. The hospitality industry certainly appreciated the fine weather as large crowds have descended on the beaches and other attractions that are now open. Let's hope another spike in COVID-19 cases is not the result.
Simon Culling
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Re: UK Weather - Spring 2021

Unread post by Simon Culling »

The final CET for May has been published with a figure of 10.1°C (-1.0°C) being recorded. The final EWR figure was 122mm which is 188% of the monthly average.

The attached Met Office report has the final figures for both May and Spring as a whole. May was the wettest on record for Wales (back to 1862) and the fifth wettest for England. I note it states that the County of Devon (in which Tiverton is situated) had an average of 192mm in May which is a record for the month - I can certainly confirm it was wet!

The Spring as a whole over the UK was colder, drier and sunnier than average which just shows how different the first half was from the second.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/p ... -contrasts
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