The warm April of 1987

[Weather-history]

This was the warmest April since 1943 but the warmth didn't kick in until the second half of the month. The first half was unsettled and not especially warm.

The early part of the month was especially wet as a low pressure became slow moving to the SW of the UK

The unsettled weather lasted until the 13th, when high pressure began to establish itself across the UK

Good Friday, 17th of April, was a beautiful day with plenty of sun and warm with maxima into the low 20s. The south coast was plagued by Channel fog drifting onshore

The generally warm weather continued until the end of the month with the 24th an especially warm day with maxima almost reaching 25C.

The warm weather did not continue into May with a dramatic change early in that month with snow reported in places during the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. Infact May was cooler than April, for the first time since 1894.

CET: 10.3 Joint 4th warmest April on record

Scotland: 7.3

Northern Ireland: 8.6

Heathrow

Mean Max: 15.8 Highest Max: 23.4

Cardiff

Mean Max: 13.9 Highest Max: 22.0

Elmdon

Mean Max: 14.8 Highest Max: 21.0

Ringway

Mean Max: 14.4 Highest Max: 22.1

Abbotsinch

Mean Max: 12.7 Highest Max: 22.5

Aldegrove

Mean Max: 13.0 Highest Max: 21.8

[Weather-history]

That Good Friday (17th April 1987) was lovely.

Here's the maxima for that date

Aviemore: 20

Bedford: 20.2

Belfast: 17.5

Birmingham Airport: 21

Blackpool: 21.3

Cambridge: 19

Glasgow Airport: 19.3

London Gatwick: 21

London Heathrow: 22.1

Manchester Airport: 21.2

Nottingham: 20.9

Oban: 18.7

Pershore: 22

Rhyl: 21.6

Swansea: 19

Valley: 18.7

I remember sitting in the sun that Good Friday, two weeks and a day later it was snowing!!

[Summer of 95]

This I certainly remember as a wonderful month, with day after day of warm sunshine and temps reaching 20C+. Clearly from the above summary it is the second half that forms most of the memories; coinciding with the Easter holidays. I remember it coming to an end quite suddenly at the April/May junction; there were then several weeks of poor weather and the summer I remember being pretty dull and wet.

[Nick H]

I always think of 1987 as one of the most interesting years in the history of British weather. We had that freezing January, a decent February, a cold March (often forgotten), a lovely April, the period mid-June to mid-July was probably the best summer weather we had during those awful summers of 1985-88, then of course the Great Storm in October. A notable year indeed.

Edited April 2, 2007 by Nick H