Local Forecasts, History & Records
All posts on Durham Weather
For centuries, farmers and sailors – people whose livelihoods depend on the weather – relied on ‘lore’ to forecast the weather. They quickly connected changes in nature with rhythms or patterns of the weather. Here is a collection of proverbs relating to months, weeks and days. Some of them make scientific sense, but some of them also sound like something …
Alright my weather mateys. Who’s sick of wet weather? If you didn’t put your hand up there you must be some kind of weirdo. It seems like it’s been raining for years non-stop now. The dry soils of last spring are now a distant memory. We often hear it said that it’s ‘raining cats and dogs’ and even ‘stair rods’, …
This is a quick plug for another website I host, for Aycliffe Fell Walking Club. If you are from the local area and you like walking in the hills and countryside of the North East, here’s some details: Aycliffe Fell Walking Club is based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham (near Darlington in the North East of England) and is open …
The Durham area of North East of England was taken a little by surprise on Friday morning, the 8th January 2021. An area of rain had approached from the North West and turned to snow after midnight. Some places received 8-10 hours of continuous snow. Depth increased dramatically with altitude. In Durham City we had only 2-3 inches of snow, but …
My Weather Station of Choice for Durham Weather I’ve been using the stylish NetAtmo Weather Station for about 2 years now so I’ve given it a good test. Within that time, i’ve had a few teething problems, but these are almost inevitable with Weather Stations and the more different types you use, the more you realise they all have their own quirks. …
December 2020 in Durham started wet and cold. The 4th December very wet, with snow on high ground as a quite deep area of low pressure rushed by. There was more than 30mm of rain on 3rd/4th. This became typical of the month, with regular downpours giving significant amounts. Some areas of the UK had snow with the rain in …
Forgive me for saying it, but I found the weather of November 2020 quite boring in Durham. There were no real extremes of temperature, no extremely wet days and even the normally strong and boisterous autumn winds had little to say for themselves in November 2020. The month began with low pressure in charge, dropping 10.1mm of rain in the …
Two amazing photos of the frozen River Wear in Durham. The first, credited to Matthew Avery and Helen Avery is of the Cathedral across the frozen river. Although Helen originally thought it was from 1983, it’s almost certainly from a year earlier in the winter of 1981/82. December 1981 and the first half of January 1982 were very severe, particularly …
While I was poking about on YouTube looking for Jack Scott videos, I rediscovered this series by Richard Hammond (of Top Gear fame). It’s called ‘Wild Weather’ and is worth a watch. Enjoy! Richard Hammond investigates the crucial role that water plays. Without water there would be almost no weather: no rain, no hail, no snow, no clouds. So Richard …
Flooding, heatwaves, winter storms – extreme weather is about to start hitting you in the pocket. Lost among the latest barrage of national and international news events is the ongoing nightmare faced by almost 600 households unable to return to their homes in Lincolnshire because of flooding in June 2019. In the last week the River Steeping burst its banks …
Liam Dutton’s 10 snowiest places in the UK. Where are the 10 snowiest places in the UK? Each winter, there is often much speculation as to how much snow will fall in the UK. The prospect of snow in the forecast generates a lot of talk and excitement about the weather. Social media becomes a frenzy of snow pictures with …
Jack Scott (Meteorologist) Today marks the 12th anniversary of the death of John (Jack) Scott. Jack was born in East Howle, Ferryhill in County Durham on 9th November 1923. I lived in Ferryhill when I first became interested in weather and one of Jack’s relatives lived up our street and was big mates with my sister at school. Jack had …