Spring Weather

Spring Weather in Durham UK

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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May 2020 Report – Warm, Dry and Sunny Again

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The Weather in Durham in May 2020. May 2020 continued the Spring theme in that it was very dry overall, after the first few days, but they yielded some heavy hail showers on May 3rd. This picture was taken in Darlington, about 18 miles to the south of Durham. The weather soon calmed down though and the overwhelming feature was the anticyclone close to the UK, almost all the way through the month after the first couple of days. Sunny as well – according to The Met Office. Sunshine records were broken across the country in Spring 2020. Could this …

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April 2020 Monthly Weather Report – Very Warm and Dry

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April 2020 was an extraordinary month in more senses than just Weather. By now, you’ve probably noticed that we’re still in lockdown. The confusion of the second half of March continued into the first part of April, but I got the feeling that people were gradually getting used to it. The weather had also been tempting to those who were desperate to be outside. See some photographs from lockdown in Durham Although I don’t record it at Durham, the Met Office have said that April 2020 was exceptionally sunny. This was apparent to me because we’d spent a good deal …

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Incredible Red Sunset in Durham April 26th 2020

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Just had this photo sent of the incredible sunset of 26th April. The sun was setting under a shallow cloud cover and it produced this red sunset and double rainbow. The cloud produced the first measurable rain for 2 weeks, in what looks destined to be one of the driest Aprils on record in Durham. The driest April was in 1938. This month only received 2mm of rainfall.

March 2020 Report – A strange month indeed!

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March 2020 came in like a lion, with strong winds continuing to batter the country due to the proximity of low pressure systems. This was pretty much the theme of the winter, but at least the extreme wetness and flooding that we experienced in February abated. The month actually ended up being very dry when compared to the March average. Only 21.9mm of rain was recorded, the majority of which fell in the second week. The wettest day was the 11th; 7.1mm fell. By the end of the month the soggy ground had managed to dry out nicely from the …

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May 2019 Monthly Report – Not really settled yet

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May 2019 Summary May opened disappointingly cool, with the preponderence of winds from an Northerly and Easterly sector, the direction no-one wants at this time of the year. There was no real warmth until the 13th and then only for three days! Temperatures did recover a bit in the second half, to give an overall mean of 10.9 degC, which is still on the cool side for May. The rainfall total was also on the low side for May, continuing the rather dry Spring. Rain was well spread, with only two short dry periods. The wettest day was the 8th, …

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Funnel Cloud seen over North East England – 28th May 2019

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The report above appeared in the Northern Echo newspaper on 29th May 2019. The axis of funnel clouds may be vertical, inclined (as seen here), or sometimes long and sinuous.  In the UK it is usually tens of metres in diamater (not huge). It is much rarer for funnel clouds to touch the ground and that is when they become tornadoes, but it does happen occasionally. Most UK tornado reports come from The Midlands, Central, Southern and South East England and East Anglia. Our very own Tornado Alley! If you see a funnel cloud or suspected tornado, you should report …

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April 2019 Monthly Report – Still a deficit of rainfall

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April began quite cold, with some snow over high ground and even to lower levels in Durham. None of it lay on the ground, but the strong north westerly and northerly winds made it feel unseasonably cold. It gradually began to warm up by day, but cold at night before mid month. It was quite wet in the first week, with 21.4mm falling in the period 2nd-4th, but then the weather turned dry and nothing was recorded at all in the period from the 8th to the 24th. The weather peaked over the Easter weekend, with sunny fine conditions and …

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