February 2025 Weather in Durham – Anticyclonic gloom until 20th

Fire and Ice Festival, Durham 2025

The month began with a blocking high giving cold easterly winds, but as easterlies aren’t what they used to be, it wasn’t exceptionally cold. The high started moving away on the 19th, allowing frontal systems to bring some snow to the north, but then mobile westerlies meant the rest of the month was changeable and mild. Maxima in Durham went …

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February 2024 Weather at Durham – Very mild and wet

February 2024 was very mild but generally wet. On the Central England Temperature (CET) scale (since 1658), at 7.8 ºC, it was the second mildest on record, beaten only by 1779 (7.9), and was warmer than the long-term March average.  On the UK wide scale it was the second warmest February since 1884 (6.3) C, after 1998 (6.8C). On Thursday 15th …

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February 2023 Weather in Durham – Mainly mild, little sign of ‘Winter’

February banner : valentines heart and a kiss

Durham Weather in February 2023 There was a very mild and dry start to February 2023. It was in fact the 2nd warmest February in Durham since 1844, surpassed only by February 1998. There was little rain before mid-month. The gale of the 16th/17th caused vibrations in the rain gauge due to the fencing it was attached to moving in …

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Feb 2022 Weather in Durham – Mainly Mild, Few Frosts

Durham Cathedral Sunset

Temperature In continuation from January, February 2022 was mainly mild. The mean temperature was 6.0 degC, which is 1.4 degC above the 1991-2020 climatic mean.  The month was still well behind the mildest ever February in Durham though, this being in 1998 (7.6). There was only one recorded air frost, on February 11th, when the thermometer dropped to -1.7 degC. …

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February 2021 Weather in Durham – Huge Contrasts

The racecourse fields, covered in frost

February 2021 was a month of great contrasts. The second half of January 2021 in Durham 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. …

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Some Incredible Ice Formations on Potters Bank, Durham February 2021

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. These 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 …

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Two photos of the frozen River Wear in Durham 1981/82 and 1895.

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 …

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February 2020 Weather in Durham – Wet and Wild

Flooding on riverside paths as Storm Ciara causes flooding in Durham

There was a very wild start to February, although it was relatively mild. Storm Ciara over the weekend of 8th/9th brought damaging gusts and flooding. The worst of it passed to the South of us, but there was major flooding in Yorkshire and winds gusted to 93mph in Wales. The River Wear in Durham rose dramatically during the morning of Sunday …

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The First Snows of Winter 2019-20 Arrive!

The First Snows Arrive February 2020 (2)

Snowfall, Winter 2019-20 Better late than never Well, after a winter composed almost entirely of wind, rain and relatively mild temperatures, the first snow arrived in Durham five days before the end of February. Amounts aren’t huge (2-3”), but at least it stopped the winter from being thrown on the ‘No snow’ pile. It’s melted rapidly though after turning to …

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Storm Ciara causes flooding in Durham

Flooding on riverside paths as Storm Ciara causes flooding in Durham

Storm Ciara batters the UK After spending a fair bit of time concentrating on the wind speeds, we sort of forgot about the rain that Storm Ciara was going to deliver. Thankfully we missed some of the squall lines that hit further south. My total for rainfall was only 22.9mm, but obviously far more fell on the catchment areas on …

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