Memories of 2000.

[Jackmonday06]

Keeping with the anniversary theme 25 years since 2000 what were everyone’s memories of it I was not around then but I’ll speak about some things to note.

the wettest year on record with the wettest autumn on record is the most notable event with April and May also being very wet.

the late December cold spell is also notable for bringing the best snow and cold weather for years in the UK.

summer was in the decent category I would say quite cool though with even London only recording 80 degreesF a couple of times but June and August still landed warmer then average so can’t complain.

march is an interesting one for such a wet year with apparently only 50% of total rainfall recorded.

winter 1999/2000 was very sunny.

What are other notable things about this year I’m forgetting.

[cheeky_monkey]

Jan was quite dry and anticyclonic for a large portion..Feb was mild..dont remember much about Mar..Apr had a late easter and was quite cold with some snow at some point..start of May was decent dont remember it being wet...June was probably the best month of the year (apart from England being sheet in Euro 2000 again)..there was a hot spell somewhere in the last 2 weeks..July was cool and showery..August started ok but deteriorated in the last 10 days which led into a god awful Autumn..i was a site manager in 2000 building a hotel at the Dartmouth golf and country club which had its own weather station..in 2000 the club recorded measurable rainfall on every day from August 22nd to Dec 22nd ..i think the period from early Oct to mid Nov was particularly bad with copious amounts of rain and gales...yes it got colder in the last week of December but wouldn't say it was the best cold spell in years..Dec 1996 happened just 4 years previous 

Edited January 29 by cheeky_monkey

[SqueakheartLW]

January 2000 - Mild to start the year but fairly dry. Some tame northerly interludes later in the month that just gave hail and sleet at best

February 2000 - Again mild but wetter than January. Think some northern and western areas got some snow off some cold zonality at some point

March 2000 - Don't remember much but I think the mild theme continued

April 2000 - This was the month that marked a change to generally average or colder than average months that lasted really till December 2001 with the exception of October 2001. A bit of snow early in the month then quite wet with showers or longer spells of rain

May 2000 - One of the better months of the year. Remember some heat at some point

June 2000 - Best of the summer months and the only one I remember a short hot spell one weekend around mid month I think

July 2000 - Worst month of the summer, cool and wet

August 2000 - Started off OK but deteriorated later. Got some decent thunderstorms around 21st into 22nd though. Then the true nature of the up coming autumn began to show its hand

September 2000 - An early brief snap of heat before the month descended into wet, wet and yet more wet

October 2000 - Yet more rain until the winds decided to join the party too with several gales and stormy spells. October 30th was the worst of the storms.

November 2000 - You guessed it, more rain. This time flooding after the large rainfall totals of the autumn and the wet year in general

December 2000 - The wet autumn continues for a time and it looked like we were destined for a mild and very wet winter but the final week of December redeemed things somewhat and set the tone for the rest of winter 2000/01 with repeated cold snaps and spells right out to March 2001.

[Harry's House]

2 hours ago, Jackmonday06 said:

march is an interesting one for such a wet year with apparently only 50% of total rainfall recorded.

Although the last two years have been very wet indeed with wet Marches, there have been other exceptionally wet years with dry Marches as well as 2000 in the EWP series such as 1768, 1852 and recently 2012. 1768 was especially remarkable as it was the 2nd wettest year on record but March that year was the 6th driest with only 12.8mm.

[Summer8906]

4 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

the club recorded measurable rainfall on every day from August 22nd to Dec 22nd ..

It did badly, as I remember the period 22nd-25th was a short lived heatwave further east. It broke after dark on the 25th but I do remember the 22nd-24th being entirely dry. The 21st had showers in this area, though.

There were dry days in the first half of Sep at times too. I do remember it was persistently and exceptionally wet from around Sep 18 to mid-Dec though I do also recall dry days from time to time: AFAIK, it didn't beat the 46 days plus in winter 13/14 (at least Jan 1 to Feb 15, I can't remember when the final dry day of December was so unsure of the total run of consecutive wet days).

Edited January 29 by Summer8906

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Dec 27th to 31st!, Atlantic 252, first ever mobile (28th) (black aerial motorola!) and lots of snow!

 

Edited January 29 by I remember Atlantic 252

[cheeky_monkey]

 Summer8906 i dont think you can argue with their rain gauge..it was very important to the running of the course..at the time they had two courses one of which was on the European PGA tour list (could only be played by zero handicap golfers and professionals) keeping an accurate record of weather conditions and rainfall was important for keeping the course esp the greens in tip top condition.

[Summer8906]

Here it can be summarised as: a rather mild but not entirely mild winter; a changeable and often wet spring; a dry, benign but cool and cloudy summer; and an absolute deluge for the autumn.

January - quite frosty, sunny and dry for a good part of the month, from around the 8th to about the 27th. The first week and last few days were mild or even very mild though, and the daytime temps in the middle part of the month were close to average, so it was mild overall, by the then-current 61-90 CET certainly. Not sure about 91-20 though. Nonetheless a reasonably seasonal month, given the duration of the frosty, settled spell and lack of mild weather during the mid-month period.

February - very mild. Notably wet early on though mid month much less so. Featured two particularly sunny Sundays mid-month on the 13th and 20th. Unsettled again at the end.

March - a sunny and dry spring month for most of the time. The last week or so was more unsettled featuring a brief Atlantic westerly then a cold and dull NE-ly to finish.

April - the first 10 days could be described as superlatively interesting; pity about the rest of the month. Following a rather wet day on the 1st a burst of southerly warmth sent temps up to around 16C for a time on the 2nd with sunshine. The change was then rapid as rain during the evening brought in very much colder air for a few days and there was significant settling snow in the Bath area, where I spent that week. Very cold also for a few days. The northerly then relaxed with building pressure in the Atlantic and it warmed fairly quickly with around 18C or so by the 8th. The whole of the 8th/9th weekend was fine and sunny, the 10th also (a little cooler behind a cold front) but then a monster low, IIRC, dropped on the country from the north or northwest. Rather than producing a further northerly though, this one just sat on the country producing very dull, cold and wet weather for a good few days. It relaxed away finally on the 15th producing the briefest of fine interludes before the Atlantic was unleashed and a long string of lows attacked the country from the southwest. It was thus very wet indeed for a good two weeks. Easter weekend was late; the current low slackened a little over the weekend producing sunshine and scattered thundery showers, but frontal rain was back the following week. Finally at the end of the month a front moved S to N, if I remember right, followed by much warmer and sunny weather to end.

May - the first two weeks were mostly fine though rather cloudy at times. The first week was mostly dry NE-ly winds with sunshine mixed with extensive cloud sheets, while the 2nd week was more humid and thundery though with similar wind direction. The second half of the month was very wet with another constant barrage of southerly-tracking Atlantic lows, basically a return to the conditions of the latter half of April though with the lows slightly less intense.

June - a dry, cloudy and cool month. The occasional wetter spell and a short lived heatspike on the weekend of the 17th/18th sent temps up to around 30C.

July - a mostly cool and cloudy month but largely dry despite a wet start. The first few days featured slack lows near the south with some heavy rainfall at times mixed with bright and pleasantly warm spells. It was very windy around the weekend of the 8th/9th and then a cool to cold NW-ly or N-ly developed some days later. Mid-month things changed and a fine and sunny spell persisted for 7 days from the 16th to the 22nd though it was merely warm, not hot. It then became cloudy and was cloudy and dry for a good few days (also cool) before somewhat warmer, brighter weather with scattered showers closed the month.

August - warmer but somewhat more unsettled than the earlier summer months. The first 12 days or so produced variable cloud, occasional showers or rain at times, but some sunny periods and it was average or occasionally warm. The weather broke around the 14th and that week was cool with often heavy showers in Pm air. It settled down during the weekend of the 19th/20th with an As sheet, seasonable temps and dry conditions under a slack pattern. The 21st was sunny with scattered showers and the 22nd-25th increasingly hot. The heatwave broke during the evening of the 25th with thunderstorms and unsettled westerly, later NW-ly weather closed the month.

September - the first half was cloudy with occasional, but not overly-heavy rain and featured a sunny day on the 3rd together with a brief heat spike on the 10th which somewhat resembled the similar heat spike in June. It then became cool and changeable rather rapidly once more but wasn't overly wet until the 18th. On that date a huge low rolled in from the west and remained static for a good few days producing some quite silly rainfall. Unsettled weather with significant rainfall saw out much of the rest of the month though it finished with a fine day, despite cyclonic synoptics, on the 30th.

October - the 1st started sunny but gradually deteriorated, with a minor trough producing some rain in the afternoon before it turned very wet later. The month was then very, very wet. Variations to the wet theme occurred round the middle weekend when the Atlantic stopped for a couple of days and a large continental low threw its fronts NW instead (though it produced a dry Sunday 16th as a result) and there was also a dry interlude round the weekend of the 22nd/23rd, so we got a little bit lucky with weekends. The most extreme unsettled weather set in late in the month though, with perhaps a top-5-of-my-lifetime extreme storm later on the 29th and into the 30th which produced falling October snow where I was in Cheshire that weekend; the only time I have seen October snow.

November - the extreme phase of the unsettled weather continued throughout most or all of the month, with huge storm after huge storm. The exact dates of the storms have become a blur, except i remember the first weekend consisting of a rare sunny, frosty Saturday (4th) and a wet and stormy Sunday (5th) especially after dark. I also seem to remember two consecutive Saturdays later (11th and 18th perhaps) producing very active cold fronts during the daytime followed by something of a clearance.

December - the first half continued the very wet weather of the autumn though somewhat less wet than late Oct/Nov. By this time it was distinctly mild for the season, compared to Oct when it was on the cool side: the max temps seemed to flatline in the 10-14 range throughout the wet spell. By the 16th a colder and dry day arrived, and while I forget the exact details, there was then a gradual transition to cold and dry by Christmas. The notably cold and sunny spell set in on Christmas Day, I think, and produced snow where I was in NW England. The thaw arrived on the 31st with a brief mild interlude though it would turn colder again by the first weekend of Jan.

 

 

 

 cheeky_monkey I'm not arguing - was just quite surprised given the number of dry days in the early part of the period further east. They had it very unlucky!

Edited January 29 by Summer8906

[Thundery wintry showers]

I was at Cleadon in Tyne & Wear throughout the year 2000.

January was dry and considerably sunnier than average, I remember some warm sunny weather at the start of the year and a couple of tame northerlies around the anticyclonic spell midmonth. There was also a notable gale near the end, 29th I think.

February was another mild month, changeable, dull first week but then generally sunny. SqueakheartLW was right about the cold zonality: there were sleety showers on the 12th, and then a spell of heavy wet snow on the 16th which gave a few centimetres, the only substantial lying snow of winter 1999/2000. Some very sunny days in the last third of the month, e.g. 20th, 25th.

March started off cold with sunshine and wintry showers but no lying snow, but from the 5th on it was generally mild and dry. There was a large number of dull dry days, but the sunny days tended to be very sunny, enough to raise sunshine above the long-term normal.

April started off with some snow that again didn't settle. The only quiet spell of the month was between around the 5th and 9th. Then there was a lot of cloudy wet weather, but the period 18th-24th was warm with southerly winds and sunshine and showers with some thunder. Overall April's mean temperature was similar to that of March, as also happened in 1998.

May was a month of two halves, but paradoxically the anticyclonic first half was generally dull in Tyneside with a lot of North Sea low cloud, while the cyclonic, unsettled second half was dominated by sunshine and showers, and some thunder. The 18th had quite a spectacular hailstorm.

June was generally dry and cloudy with average temperatures, but it was very wet and cold on the 3rd when the temperature stayed below 10C all day. However, the period 17th to 20th was hot and sunny with temperatures as high as 27C even on the north-east coast. Sunshine and showers for my birthday (22nd), then back to dry and cloudy.

July was cool and very dull with frequent northerlies. I spent about ten days of that month in Belgium/Netherlands where it was very cool and dull also. I remember August being dry and warm in the first half with near average sunshine, cooler, generally sunny second half with some showers at times. I recall the 21st being frustrating when most of the country had thunderstorms but the Tyneside coast was under haar/sea fret. Overall, August helped redeem the summer and was the sunniest and driest of the three months.

The autumn was very wet. September, after quite a quiet start and a notable thunderstorm on the 11th, turned generally dull and wet. October and November were also very wet, but with close to average sunshine and temperatures. The heavy precipitation on the 30th fell as cold rain near the coast with the temperature not dropping below 3C. First week November was also extremely wet. November was generally a bit cooler than average until around the 23rd, and then the last week was very mild.

I remember a lot of mild grey weather in the first half of December 2000, then a cold bright spell midmonth, then a lot of grey weather from southerlies in the run up to Christmas. I didn't get any snow on Christmas Day, but there was falling and lying snow on the morning of Boxing Day. The fronts associated with the polar low on 28th fizzled before they got to Cleadon, but snow showers spread in off the North Sea during that afternoon and overnight, and I was woken up by a loud clap of thunder at 4:50am on the 29th - my first experience of thundersnow. Snow lay from the 26th to 31st inclusive, reaching a maximum depth of about 7cm on the 29th, but the breakdown from the west on 31st was sleety.

Overall not one of my favourite years for weather but it had some standout moments. The cold snowy end of December is what really sticks out when I think of the year 2000.

Edited January 29 by Thundery wintry showers

[Summer18]

I was young so have pretty basic memories but a few things do stick out. I remember a thunderstorm on Easter Sunday that year, we had some decent hot weather around the time of Euro 2000 in June. I can remember some decent thunderstorms in August too. 

I can remember the cold spell in December very well, the heaviest snow was the morning of the 28th and I think it was probably the heaviest snow since around 1997. It lingered into the new year as I remember snow was still laying on New Year’s Eve. 

Edited January 30 by Summer18

[damianslaw]

I was in Tyne and Wear first half of the year, then Stirling second half. First half of the year largely unmemorable, often wet, dull and mild. I remember lots of snow on the lakeland fells in early April.

A non entity summer.

Most memorable aspect the exceptionally wet Autumn and December, ending with a 7 day freeze. 

Edited January 29 by damianslaw

[LetItSnow]

Averaged against 1961-1990 

JANUARY 2000: Mild, exceptionally dry and exceptionally sunny.

Max: 8.6C (+1.5) Min: 2.4C (+1.0) Rainfall: 16.5mm (32%) Sunshine: 78.6hrs (152%) Highest Max: 13.5C (29th) Lowest Min: -3.5C (28th)

FEBRUARY 2000: Exceptionally mild and exceptionally sunny, but exceptionally wet.

Max: 10.4C (+2.8) Min: 3.8C (+2.3) Rainfall: 62.2mm (180%) Sunshine: 102.5hrs (152%) Highest Max: 13.8C (8th) Lowest Min: -1.1C (15th)

MARCH 2000: Exceptionally mild, exceptionally dry and sunny.

Max: 12.1C (+1.8) Min: 4.9C (+2.2) Rainfall: 16.0mm (34%) Sunshine: 120.4hrs (109%) Highest Max: 16.6C (9th) Lowest Min: -0.3C (6th)

APRIL 2000: Extremely wet and also dull, average temperatures.

Max: 12.9C (-0.2) Min: 5.4C (+0.7) Rainfall: 99.6mm (223%) Sunshine: 135.8hrs (92%) Highest Max: 18.7C (29th) Lowest Min: 0.3C (17th)

MAY 2000: Warm but exceptionally wet with average sunshine.

Max: 18.0C (+1.0) Min: 9.6C (+1.6) Rainfall: 87.2mm (172%) Sunshine: 202.9hrs (105%) Highest Max: 26.6C (15th) Lowest Min: 5.1C (21st)

JUNE 2000: Warm and exceptionally dry, but very dull.

Max: 21.0C (+0.6) Min: 12.8C (+1.8) Rainfall: 19.2mm (38%) Sunshine: 169.5hrs (85%) Highest Max: 31.4C (19th) Lowest Min: 6.3C (1st)

JULY 2000: Cool, wet and dull.

Max: 21.0C (-1.5) Min: 12.8C (-0.3) Rainfall: 52.8mm (116%) Sunshine: 174.7hrs (90%) Highest Max: 25.9C (21st) Lowest Min: 7.5C (13th)

AUGUST 2000: Warm, sunny and very dry.

Max: 23.2C (+1.1) Min: 14.0C (+1.2) Rainfall: 32.3mm (63%) Sunshine: 211.4hrs (113%) Highest Max: 27.4C (12th) Lowest Min: 10.3C (22nd & 29th)

SEPTEMBER 2000: Dull and extremely wet, but warm.

Max: 20.1C (+0.8) Min: 12.5C (+1.7) Rainfall: 105.8mm (210%) Sunshine: 132.1hrs (91%) Highest Max: 27.5C (11th) Lowest Min: 6.9C (5th)

OCTOBER 2000: Dull and extremely wet, but with average temperatures.

Max: 14.7C (-0.7) Min: 8.5C (+0.5) Rainfall: 155.4mm (269%) Sunshine: 98.0hrs (91%) Highest Max: 18.6C (1st) Lowest Min: 5.1C (18th)

NOVEMBER 2000: Exceptionally wet, but sunny with average temperatures.

Max: 11.0C (+0.6) Min: 4.5C (+0.4) Rainfall: 99.5mm (182%) Sunshine: 74.9hrs (110%) Highest Max: 15.6C (28th) Lowest Min: -1.2C (16th)

DECEMBER 2000: Sunny and very mild, but wet.

Max: 9.0C (+1.0) Min: 4.6C (+2.3) Rainfall: 73.9mm (130%) Sunshine: 50.0hrs (108%) Highest Max: 14.3C (7th) Lowest Min: -5.5C (30th)

NOTES:

The summer was turning out to be very poor until August. June was duller than I thought it was, at least at Heathrow. Apart from a heat spike in June the summer was notably devoid of any heat. Indeed after the 19th of June nowhere recorded 30C all summer. 

Rainfall was very erratic during the first half of the year.

Edited February 1 by LetItSnow

[shunthebartlett92]

If were talking non weather events, the millennium experience i was there in primary school, absolute fail.

[Harry233]

The year we started keeping records. 
 

January: A dry and fairly uneventful month. Although there was a decent snowfall here towards the end of the month. 

February: A generally wet and mild month. 

March: A dry and fairly sunny month, quite mild too. 

April: A very wet month, up till 2024 the wettest April on record. A very heavy snowfall here on the 3rd and some unseasonably cold weather. I do remember it turning quite spring like towards the end with some pleasantly sunny, dry days but mainly a dull and wet one.

May: Had a very good first half with lots of warm and sunny weather, completely changed in the second half being rather cool and wet. 

June: Fairly uneventful, a decent warm spell midmonth otherwise unremarkable,

July: Cool but extremely dry a very cool and dull first half but quite a good second half being a lot warmer, dry and sunny. One of the driest Julys on record.

August: Warm, dry and sunny a wet final week.

September: Extremely wet by far the wettest September on record nearly 300% of average rain here. Although it was often a warm month despite that.

October: Unsettled, fairly average temperatures and wet although nowhere near as wet as the south or September.

November: Another wet and dull month but again, nothing exceptional. 

December: Quite cool but often settled, very cold snap just after Christmas as well.