April 2021 Weather at Durham – Cold but Dry

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Wow, what an extraordinary month! April 2021 has been a remarkable month in the long history of weather records. The month was notable for a) It’s frostiness abd b) the lack of real rain. April 2021 Temperature in Durham April 2021 was actually colder than March 2021 at Durham by a significant sum. The mean for the month came in at 6.1 degC, a full 1.0 degC lower. In April last year, the mean was 9.6 degC. Snow on 11th April 2021. The mean minimum for April 2021 was 1.6 degC (mean is 3.7) and there were 9 days with …

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New website url

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From 20th of April 2021 this website has a new url address. https://durhamukweather.com This is because: a) The website has moved host, and b) The new host doesn’t handle .co.uk domains All traffic will be automatically forwarded to the new site address from the old one (durhamweather.co.uk). Otherwise, the site and it’s content are identical. If you have the site bookmarked, please use the new url. If there are any problems you spot, please let me know. Thanks, Dave (owner)

March 2021 Weather Summary – Dry and Warming

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#durhamwx #march2021 After what seemed to be a long winter, the weather in March 2021 eventually eased us away from the bleakness of February. The first week was still cold, as high pressure persisted, but things became more mobile for a short period after the 10th, with more cyclonic conditions bringing a rise in temperature and the month’s only ‘wet spell’. The two warmest days were the last two. Beautiful conditions let the thermometer peak at just shy of 20 degC. Sunshine was abundant and it was true shirt sleeve weather. It felt like Spring was truly here at last …

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Spring delayed for 2 weeks in 2021

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Here’s the thing. The winter of 2020-2021 was much colder than the previous one. We had a proper cold January this year, averaging just 2.3 degC, with 13 days of frost and some good snow events. This then continued into the first half of February. When winter is cold, it affects when things really start to grow. If the temperature stays below freezing, plants will just think, Nah! (Just like humans) But is there a way of measuring this? Can we say that on a particular day at the start of the year, our growing things will, well, start to …

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February 2021 Weather Report for Durham – Huge Contrasts

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The racecourse fields, covered in frost

February 2021 was a month of great contrasts. The second half of January 2021 was cold and had frequent frosts. This set the underlying theme for early Feb. The first week of the month was very wet, with more than 10mm rainfall on 2nd, 3rd and 6th. We then experienced an intense cold period between 7th and 14th. I kept thinking back to February 1991 for a comparison. February 2021 didn’t have as much snow, but was just as cold. Freezing Days and Ice Days have been rare in Durham over the last decade, but this period produced a few …

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Some Incredible Ice Formations on Potters Bank, Durham Feb 2021

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Close up of Ice on grass at the side of Potters Bank, Durham Feb 11th 2021

I spotted these photos on Facebook and contacted the owner Zanna Clay, who kindly gave me permission to use them. The photos show fantastic ice formations on the grass and hedges by the side of the road on Potters Bank in Durham. It was caused by passing cars spraying water from the road onto the grass, then freezing, making incredible ice formations.  

Some record low temps from around the region

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The North East region still holds a few daily low temperature records. Most are held by Scottish stations, but these are the UK records for the dates below set in North East England. January 5th (1941) Houghall -21.1 degC February 26th (1963) Kielder -18.3 degC March 4th (1947) Houghall -21.1 degC December 25th (1878) Gainford -18.3 degC   Does anyone know of any more? What is the lowest temperature you’ve ever experienced locally?    

What is ‘The Beast from The East’?

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Deep snow in Durham, December 2010

The upcoming cold weather is expected to hit us hard next week. It will come from the continent and traditionally, this is where our coldest weather comes from. Over here on the East Coast, we have no protection from any Easterly or North Easterly, so we tend to bear the brunt of this weather type. The phenomenon occurs every few years and the tabloid newspapers have christened it as ‘The Beast from The East’. So, what exactly is ‘The Beast From The East’? It sounds like some kind of Oriental horror movie, or the title of a Heavy Metal album, …

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Early snowfall in Durham on February 2nd 2021

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I awoke to the following snowfall on the morning of 2nd February 2021. There are big hints of a potential ‘Beast From The East’ scheduled after the weekend and next week. I will of course keep you posted and separate the fact from fiction. Enjoy this little slow-motion video.

January 2021 Weather Report for Durham – Wet and Cold

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January 2021 – A cold, wet month at Durham With Storm Christoph a noteable feature Temperature After the warmth of January 2020, this month proved to be the exact opposite. The month proved to be both wet and wintry, with an exceptional snowfall in the North East area on or around the 6th-8th of the month. Some photos can be seen here. The month averaged only 2.3 degC, which is the coldest January in Durham since 2010. Not unusually for a cold month, it had 13 air frosts recorded, with the lowest temperature of -4.2 degC on the 9th January. …

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