Extreme's Discussion

[Robbie Garrett]

In reference to the following,

This spell has been memorable on par with the Summer 2007 rains, late November 2010 severe cold and snowfalls, last December's coldness, and this April's warmth- all quite astonishing and remarkable to have all occurred within my lifetime, let alone the space of a few years!

I am a very strong believe of Climate Change (BUT NOT in the way Al Gore etc portray it) such as Manmade global warming, but that's for another discussion. What's caused these extremes, scientifically? Meteorologicaly? and what does Space have to do with it? I had to start a discussion, that it's perfectly true that the extremities that we experience in our lifetime are quite remarkable for the UK, whilst all this is debatable, can people share there theories/causes for this rather extreme 2010/11/12>???? period, which is yet to finish, as we have no settled back into a regular routine.

[ZONE 51]

We are breaking more records more close together, more extreme weather events are occuring here and across the world, variation is massive in the types of weather we experience, it has been unusual this summer by far, as some areas have seen normal rainfall and others are in a drought, the NorthWest cant seem to get any warm and dry weather, theres no thunderstorms being imported as there used to be ,its all very strange weather patterns, things have changed, our climate here has changed, and the models have to keep up with this from the data they recieve, this data being very varied and signals all over the place and creating model mayhem.

So what is going on we need to find out! the jet stream is not heading north during summer across the far north which would bring up the Azores high pressure, this of course usually giving widespread sunny and dry weather for all areas,it has been south allowing low pressure to run across instead of this high pressure-although we have had tasters of hot highs but not how we would expect for summer in the terms of prolonged and widespread, the winter jet stream pattern usually sits across the channel or North France , this allows lows from the atlantic to gain power and move across Southern England, this has been going all the way to Spain.

we need to look into what is causing the jet stream pattern to be so different from what would normally be the case.

more from me at some point.

It all make for interesting weather watching though!

Edited October 3, 2011 by ElectricSnowStorm

[summer blizzard]

I disagree with the quote in page 1.

While we did indeed break 3 daily maxima records (possibly 4 if sunday too), they were just that maxima records. Mean daily record for 1st October 1985 was not beaten.

As record breaking as this short spell was, it was a blotch at the end of an otherwise unsettled and not too far from average temperature month (CET was only running 0.9C above the 1981-2010 average). In regards to October, the models are not showing anything that would cause October to challenge the record for monthly temperatures.

Very much noteworth, yes. An indicator of climate change, maybe. To be compared with record breaking 3 month periods such as May-July 07, or monthly extremes such as Nov/Dec 2010 or Aprils 07 and 11, NO!

Should we get a record breaking monthly period then we can compare this to those spells however modeling indicates nothing like that and as such i am doubtful. Rather, this spell was comparable to the record breaking Jan temperature in 03 in an otherwise warm but unremarkable month.

[Milhouse]

I disagree with the quote in page 1.

While we did indeed break 3 daily maxima records (possibly 4 if sunday too), they were just that maxima records. Mean daily record for 1st October 1985 was not beaten.

As record breaking as this short spell was, it was a blotch at the end of an otherwise unsettled and not too far from average temperature month (CET was only running 0.9C above the 1981-2010 average). In regards to October, the models are not showing anything that would cause October to challenge the record for monthly temperatures.

It all depends on what timescale you look at when judging whether its been noteworthy or not. If you view September as a whole then it was decently above average but not eccesively so (1.1c above the 81-00 ave) but i wouldnt say it was unsettled on the whole. It was characterised by frequent low pressure at the start of the month but the total rainfall for the CET zone was 69% which is below average.

Anyway back to the warm spell just gone. If you view it in isolation and just look at the 6 day period then it is up there with the very best late warm spells. I believe its the latest warm spell (over 5 days) in the year to record a CET of over 18c. Somebody will confirm this i'm sure. The mamimum temperatures across the 6 days were 27,29,29,30,29,28 which would be worthy of a decent warm spell in July never mind Sept/Oct. There will be days that failed to break the date mean record, but you are never going to get a spell where all date max, min and mean temperature records are broken. Just like April 2011 which didnt break the record day max of 29.4c but smashed the previous April record for the month as a whole.

[Weather-history]

The spell that has just ended, I have to say, I was not that amazed by it. I think it is because that we have broken (or come within the top 5) warm records in the last 20 years that "remarkableness" of such events has gone out of the equation for me.

I passed comment awhile back on how many extremes that have occurred in the last 5 years ranging from May-July 2007 washout, the dryness of April 2007, the sunny February of 2008 and the dullness of August 2008 etc The interesting thing is that "coldness" has now crept into the equation. The first 10 days of 2010 were the coldest first 10 days to a year since 1894, the last week of November was the coldest on record, the first week of December was the coldest since 1879 and the month as a whole since 1890, it was the coldest 30 pre-Christmas day period on record, the winter of 2009-10 was the coldest for the CET since 1978-79 and the summer the coolest since 1988. Something, that quite a few people thought had disappeared from the equation.

Thundery spells don't seem to have become extreme, if anything thunder has become increasingly scarce. There has been hardly any thunder around here for the last 3 years. So not all weather types have tended to the extreme.

Edited October 4, 2011 by Mr_Data

[snowlover2009]

We do seem to be breaking more records in recent years or having usual events occurring. Summer 2007 and 2008? April 2011, November 2009, December 2010, November 2010, Winter 2009/10, October 2008 snow, summer 2006, winter 2007/08.

[Interitus]

I think it will need a statistician to explain this precisely but it depends on the probability distribution of extreme weather events. Thus even with no change in climate it is possible that for example after a thousand year's worth of meteorological recording we may still break records with some degree of regularity.

Edited October 4, 2011 by Interitus

[Staffordshire]

Not to mention the dry bubble over the middlands, around birmingham/Coventry! No PPN can seem to keep it's intensity whilst passing over here and just disperses.

[summer blizzard]

It all depends on what timescale you look at when judging whether its been noteworthy or not. If you view September as a whole then it was decently above average but not eccesively so (1.1c above the 81-00 ave) but i wouldnt say it was unsettled on the whole. It was characterised by frequent low pressure at the start of the month but the total rainfall for the CET zone was 69% which is below average.

Anyway back to the warm spell just gone. If you view it in isolation and just look at the 6 day period then it is up there with the very best late warm spells. I believe its the latest warm spell (over 5 days) in the year to record a CET of over 18c. Somebody will confirm this i'm sure. The mamimum temperatures across the 6 days were 27,29,29,30,29,28 which would be worthy of a decent warm spell in July never mind Sept/Oct. There will be days that failed to break the date mean record, but you are never going to get a spell where all date max, min and mean temperature records are broken. Just like April 2011 which didnt break the record day max of 29.4c but smashed the previous April record for the month as a whole.

That post to me just backs up my point. In an otherwise unremarkable month (CET was at 14.9C before the warm spell), we saw a 6 day spell which was very warm and on 4 days, broke records for maxima on those dates. In that sense, this spell was very noteworthy, i am not trying to take that away.

That said, September finished at just 15.1C which against the 1971-2000 average is just 1.4C above average or to put it another way, only 0.1C more extreme as a whole than July 2011.

For that reason while i will refer to this spell in future, it will be just this spell as opposed to entire months or seasons because the rest of the month was unremarkable for the most part. This spell while record breaking, should not be compared to the likes of April 07 or June/July 06 which were in a different league.

[mikeocarroll]

Is it possible that temperature maxima are broken more frequently in recent years due to an increase in weather stations, making it more likely that a particular hot spot will be recorded? Is there simply more data collected than say 100 or even 50 years ago? Does this affect other extremes?

I don't think that this is the whole story but it may be a factor - or it may not be - I haven't got any data on data collection...

I think it's also worth bearing in mind how many pieces of weather data are collected, for example if 40 pieces of data are collected in each month (max, min, lowest max, highest min, rainfall 1 hr/24hr/month etc. etc. I'm sure you can get to 40), then if you multiply this by 12 months then there are 480 different records to be broken, and so given that we have less than 400 years of reliable statistics, then you would expect a record each year. And once you start sub-dividing into a given 7-day or 30-day period then this will become even more frequent as there are huge numbers of permutations of such days each year, it is only to be expected that some records will be broken frequently until we have several thousand years' worth of data.

It's like in cricket, England are always setting the "highest third wicket partnership against the West Indies at Edgbaston" or something equally specific, but the "highest partnership for any wicket against any opponent ever" is somewhat rarer.

[Aaron]

I don't think temperature maxima is being broken more frequently in recent years.

[Milhouse]

I don't think temperature maxima is being broken more frequently in recent years.

The October record was set obviously a couple of days ago. The July record max was set in 2006 and the August max back in 2003. The February record was set in 1998 and in 2003 the January record max was equalled. So 5 out of the 12 months have seen a record max temperature set in the last 14 years. The other months have the current record standing for a lot longer. In Septembers case it was back in 1906.

The most recent record minimum was set in 1995 (December) and before that its 1982 (January)

[Aaron]

The October record was set obviously a couple of days ago. The July record max was set in 2006 and the August max back in 2003. The February record was set in 1998 and in 2003 the January record max was equalled. So 5 out of the 12 months have seen a record max temperature set in the last 14 years. The other months have the current record standing for a lot longer. In Septembers case it was back in 1906.

The most recent record minimum was set in 1995 (December) and before that its 1982 (January)

I don't really class 2006 or 1998 or 2003 as recent. If so then 1995 is recent, or 1987.

Edited October 4, 2011 by Aaron

[summer blizzard]

The October record was set obviously a couple of days ago. The July record max was set in 2006 and the August max back in 2003. The February record was set in 1998 and in 2003 the January record max was equalled. So 5 out of the 12 months have seen a record max temperature set in the last 14 years. The other months have the current record standing for a lot longer. In Septembers case it was back in 1906.

The most recent record minimum was set in 1995 (December) and before that its 1982 (January)

Wales and Northern Ireland had record minima in December 2010. We have also broken the May and September minimum records in the past decade.

I don't really class 2006 or 1998 or 2003 as recent. If so then 1995 is recent, or 1987.

I would call 2003 and 2006 recent.

In the very recent past then we have had the wettest July and November on record (2009) and the wettest May-July period on record (2007).

Edited October 5, 2011 by summer blizzard

[Methuselah]

Tbh, I think that we are experiencing a statistical blip and nothing more, as sometimes we can go for years with hardly any records being broken at all. Whatever the 'reason' is, though, we are in rather interesting times.

[Radiating Dendrite]

I don't really class 2006 or 1998 or 2003 as recent. If so then 1995 is recent, or 1987.

In 350 years of recording they are recent though.

I would count 20 years as recent personally.

[Weather-history]

.

In the very recent past then we have had the wettest July and November on record (2009) and the wettest May-July period on record (2007).

July and November 2009 were not the wettest for their months on record for England and Wales.

Edited October 5, 2011 by Mr_Data

[Milhouse]

Wales and Northern Ireland had record minima in December 2010. We have also broken the May and September minimum records in the past decade.

The TORRO site has the record low for May set in 1941 of -9.4c. It has the record for September being -6.7 in 1942. Are these still current records as that site might be out of date.

http://www.torro.org.uk/site/mintemps.php

[Guest Durham Weather]

Year Day Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Winter Spring Summer Autumn 1st half 2nd half Year Notes 1775 29 8.6 0.9 19.7 15.4 13.8 14.9 14.5 12.2 6.1 7.1 4.5 Warmest Apr day 1776 Mean -1.6 3.8 6.4 9.4 10.8 14.1 16.3 15.2 12.9 10.2 6.2 4.4 2.2 8.9 15.2 9.8 7.2 10.9 9.0 Coldest 2nd half January 1777 27 2.4 8.2 14.8 5.2 13.1 12.0 14.4 14.2 17.0 6.1 8.2 1.7 Warmest Mar day 1779 Mean 2.9 7.9 7.9 9.4 11.9 14.4 17.9 17.6 15.2 10.9 5.7 3.1 5.6 9.7 16.6 10.6 9.1 11.7 10.4 Warmest February 1780 29 -0.1 6.2 9.5 12.6 21.2 19.3 17.9 15.8 12.3 7.8 5.0 5.0 Warmest May day 1782 Mean 5.2 1.9 4.1 5.2 9.0 14.9 15.6 14.2 13.3 7.6 2.3 2.8 4.2 6.1 14.9 7.7 6.7 9.3 8.0 Coldest November 1784 Mean -0.6 1.4 2.7 5.7 13.5 13.7 15.2 14.0 14.8 7.8 5.5 0.3 1.2 7.3 14.3 9.4 6.1 9.6 7.8 Coldest 2nd half August 1785 Mean 3.4 0.4 1.2 8.4 12.3 16.1 16.1 13.9 13.6 8.7 5.6 2.8 1.4 7.3 15.4 9.3 7.0 10.1 8.5 Coldest March 1786 Mean 2.7 3.4 2.1 8.1 11.2 16.1 15.0 15.1 11.7 7.5 3.3 2.8 3.0 7.1 15.4 7.5 7.3 9.2 8.3 Coldest Autumn 1795 19 -3.5 -3.5 1.7 9.4 14.1 7.3 17.5 14.9 18.5 13.9 3.9 9.2 Coldest Jun day= 1795 Mean -3.1 0.8 3.9 7.7 10.9 13.2 15.2 16.6 16.0 11.7 4.5 6.6 0.5 7.5 15.0 10.7 5.6 11.8 8.7 Coldest January 1796 25 7.5 3.0 3.2 10.2 10.7 16.7 16.3 16.7 12.2 2.8 5.0 -10.8 Coldest Dec day 1799 3 -1.4 -4.4 4.9 -0.5 6.2 12.7 16.3 16.2 13.2 10.3 9.7 6.9 Coldest Apr day= 1807 Mean 2.8 3.7 2.9 7.7 11.8 14.2 17.1 16.9 10.5 11.4 2.9 1.9 4.4 7.5 16.1 8.3 7.2 10.1 8.7 Coldest 1st half September, Coldest September 1808 Mean 2.6 2.8 3.2 5.8 13.7 14.8 18.4 16.7 12.7 7.2 6.0 2.2 2.4 7.6 16.6 8.6 7.2 10.5 8.8 Coldest 2nd half April 1814 Mean -2.9 1.4 2.9 9.6 9.2 12.2 16.0 14.7 12.8 8.1 4.7 4.3 0.4 7.2 14.3 8.5 5.4 10.1 7.8 Coldest 1st half, Coldest 1st half January 1816 9 6.7 -8.8 1.8 3.7 8.2 7.3 12.9 14.6 12.9 13.1 5.9 4.1 Coldest Feb day, Coldest Jun day= 1816 Mean 2.7 2.1 3.9 6.5 9.9 12.8 13.4 13.9 11.8 10.3 3.9 3.1 2.4 6.8 13.4 8.7 6.3 9.4 7.9 Coldest July, Coldest Summer 1817 Mean 4.5 6.4 5.5 7.6 8.7 15.1 14.1 13.6 13.2 6.4 9.1 2.5 4.7 7.3 14.3 9.6 8.0 9.8 8.9 Coldest May, Coldest October 1821 Mean 3.6 2.1 5.7 9.5 9.4 12.3 14.8 16.4 14.9 10.4 8.6 6.4 3.5 8.2 14.5 11.3 7.1 11.9 9.5 Coldest 2nd half May 1824 28 5.1 3.8 1.7 11.4 15.6 16.8 15.6 16.1 4.9 10.1 8.8 7.3 Coldest September day 1833 Mean 1.2 5.6 3.9 7.7 15.1 14.6 15.8 14.3 12.1 10.1 6.6 6.9 4.0 8.9 14.9 9.6 8.0 11.0 9.5 Warmest 1st half May, Warmest May 1834 23 11.6 9.4 8.0 8.0 13.9 14.9 17.6 12.9 10.9 8.1 4.4 1.4 Warmest Jan day= 1836 20 3.5 -0.7 10.9 9.5 13.7 13.9 8.7 13.4 9.3 6.4 2.8 5.0 Coldest July day 1837 Mean 2.7 4.7 2.3 4.7 9.9 15.5 16.9 15.7 12.5 10.5 5.2 5.3 3.8 5.6 16.0 9.4 6.6 11.0 8.8 Coldest 2nd half March, Coldest April, Coldest Spring 1838 20 -11.9 0.6 5.9 3.2 10.7 14.7 15.2 16.3 11.0 13.6 3.0 2.0 Coldest Jan day 1840 Mean 4.1 3.6 3.8 9.7 11.4 14.1 13.8 15.9 11.1 7.5 5.8 1.3 3.8 8.3 14.6 8.1 7.8 9.2 8.5 Coldest 2nd half September 1841 Mean 1.1 2.4 7.5 7.8 12.7 12.9 13.8 14.6 13.4 8.7 5.2 4.4 1.6 9.3 13.8 9.1 7.4 10.0 8.7 Coldest 2nd half July= 1845 13 4.4 0.0 -6.5 7.7 10.3 18.9 13.6 12.5 13.6 11.1 5.2 -0.3 Coldest Mar day 1845 Mean 3.2 0.9 2.0 8.6 9.5 14.9 14.3 13.5 11.4 9.5 6.7 4.6 1.5 6.7 14.2 9.2 6.5 10.0 8.3 Coldest 1st half March 1846 Mean 6.3 6.4 6.1 7.8 12.3 18.2 16.5 16.6 14.7 9.5 6.9 0.5 5.8 8.7 17.1 10.4 9.5 10.8 10.2 Warmest 2nd half January, Warmest 1st half June, Warmest June 1861 8 -2.3 5.9 7.1 5.1 2.9 11.1 15.0 16.3 14.3 16.2 3.6 7.5 Coldest May day 1864 26 6.2 2.0 2.2 9.3 7.4 12.8 14.6 8.8 11.8 11.5 5.0 -0.1 Coldest Aug day 1865 Mean 2.1 2.3 2.9 10.6 12.6 15.6 16.6 15.1 16.3 9.7 6.7 5.8 2.7 8.7 15.8 10.9 7.7 11.7 9.7 Warmest 1st half September 1869 Mean 5.6 7.5 3.8 10.1 9.6 13.2 17.3 15.5 14.4 9.7 5.8 2.9 6.8 7.8 15.3 10.0 8.3 10.9 9.6 Warmest 1st half February, Warmest Winter 1874 Mean 5.5 3.9 6.7 9.8 10.0 13.9 17.3 15.1 13.6 10.4 5.6 -0.2 4.9 8.8 15.4 9.9 8.3 10.3 9.3 Coldest 2nd half December 1879 Mean -0.7 3.1 4.7 5.7 8.9 12.9 13.6 14.5 12.6 8.9 4.1 0.7 0.7 6.4 13.7 8.5 5.8 9.1 7.4 Coldest 1st half July, Coldest 1st half December, Coldest 2nd half, Coldest Year 1883 Mean 4.7 5.9 1.9 8.1 10.6 13.9 14.5 15.3 13.3 9.7 5.8 4.6 4.8 6.9 14.6 9.6 7.5 10.5 9.0 Coldest 2nd half July= 1888 Mean 3.2 1.8 3.1 6.2 10.7 13.2 13.7 14.1 12.2 7.9 7.7 4.9 2.5 6.7 13.7 9.3 6.4 10.1 8.2 Coldest 1st half October 1890 Mean 5.7 3.1 6.2 7.1 11.7 13.5 14.5 14.1 14.6 9.4 5.7 -0.8 4.0 8.3 14.0 9.9 7.9 9.6 8.7 Coldest December 1893 Mean 2.2 4.7 7.2 10.3 13.1 15.6 16.4 17.4 12.9 9.9 5.2 4.8 2.9 10.2 16.5 9.3 8.9 11.1 10.0 Warmest Spring= 1895 29 -3.8 4.8 8.8 15.7 16.9 14.4 17.2 16.7 0.3 7.9 5.0 Coldest Oct day 1895 Mean 0.2 -1.8 5.1 8.2 12.4 14.8 15.2 15.8 15.4 7.1 7.5 3.9 1.2 8.6 15.3 10.0 6.5 10.8 8.7 Coldest 1st half February, Coldest 2nd half October 1902 Mean 4.7 1.5 6.7 7.5 8.9 13.9 14.7 14.3 12.8 9.6 6.8 4.6 3.2 7.7 14.3 9.7 7.2 10.5 8.8 Coldest 1st half May 1904 24 0.3 3.2 4.3 10.9 12.5 13.0 18.8 11.6 11.7 9.3 -4.6 -1.4 Coldest Nov day 1906 2 3.3 6.0 5.9 6.7 5.1 12.1 14.0 19.8 22.6 14.1 7.8 5.9 Warmest Sep day 1907 Mean 3.6 2.8 6.3 7.6 10.5 12.4 14.1 14.3 13.6 9.8 6.5 4.6 3.1 8.1 13.6 10.0 7.2 10.5 8.8 Coldest 2nd half June 1909 Mean 3.5 2.9 3.7 8.7 11.0 11.8 14.6 15.4 11.9 10.4 4.8 3.9 3.4 7.8 13.9 9.0 6.9 10.2 8.6 Coldest June= 1912 Mean 3.6 5.4 7.2 8.8 12.1 13.9 16.1 12.9 11.1 8.2 6.3 6.7 5.1 9.4 14.3 8.5 8.5 10.2 9.4 Coldest 1st half August, Coldest August 1915 Mean 4.1 4.3 5.2 7.9 10.8 14.4 14.6 15.3 13.4 9.1 2.8 5.3 4.3 8.0 14.8 8.4 7.8 10.1 8.9 Coldest 2nd half November 1916 Mean 7.5 3.8 3.3 8.2 11.6 11.8 15.3 16.4 13.0 10.6 6.8 1.9 5.5 7.7 14.5 10.1 7.7 10.7 9.2 Warmest January, Coldest 1st half June, Coldest June= 1917 2 8.8 -1.8 4.5 -0.5 11.1 13.5 13.9 15.4 14.4 12.2 10.4 2.6 Coldest Apr day= 1917 Mean 1.6 0.9 3.2 5.4 12.8 15.2 16.1 15.3 14.0 7.5 7.8 2.3 1.5 7.1 15.5 9.8 6.5 10.5 8.5 Coldest 1st half April 1919 Mean 2.9 1.9 3.6 7.1 13.5 14.3 13.9 15.7 12.7 7.4 3.3 5.5 3.9 8.1 14.6 7.8 7.2 9.8 8.5 Coldest 1st half November 1921 Mean 7.3 4.8 7.4 8.0 11.5 14.7 18.5 15.4 14.1 12.8 4.6 6.5 5.4 9.0 16.2 10.5 9.0 12.0 10.5 Warmest 1st half October 1926 Mean 4.6 6.8 6.3 9.3 10.2 13.6 17.1 16.2 14.4 8.1 5.9 4.2 4.7 8.6 15.6 9.5 8.5 11.0 9.7 Warmest 2nd half February 1932 3 11.6 4.4 1.7 4.5 9.1 11.2 15.0 15.5 15.9 8.0 12.2 4.8 Warmest Jan day= 1934 Mean 4.1 3.8 4.8 8.0 11.3 14.9 18.2 15.4 14.6 10.6 6.1 8.1 3.2 8.0 16.2 10.4 7.8 12.2 10.0 Warmest 1st half December, Warmest December= 1938 5 4.0 7.8 8.4 7.7 10.2 13.6 12.8 18.7 11.9 10.4 15.4 5.5 Warmest Nov day 1938 Mean 5.7 5.1 9.1 7.6 10.7 14.4 15.2 16.3 13.8 10.5 9.4 4.4 4.6 9.1 15.3 11.2 8.8 11.6 10.2 Warmest 1st half November 1947 3 3.9 0.7 -2.5 3.8 9.9 23.0 16.4 18.4 15.6 12.1 9.9 0.7 Warmest Jun day 1947 Mean 2.2 -1.9 3.6 8.6 13.5 15.5 17.0 18.6 14.9 10.6 7.2 5.1 1.1 8.6 17.0 10.9 6.9 12.2 9.6 Coldest 2nd half February, Coldest February 1948 29 5.2 7.0 9.6 6.6 9.9 11.6 25.2 15.2 14.7 5.9 3.3 3.9 Warmest Jul day 1955 Mean 2.6 1.2 3.2 9.3 9.7 13.8 17.7 18.1 14.2 9.2 7.0 5.4 3.5 7.4 16.5 10.1 6.6 11.9 9.3 Warmest 2nd half August 1957 Mean 5.5 5.3 9.2 8.9 10.3 15.2 16.3 15.4 12.5 10.8 6.4 4.5 5.5 9.5 15.6 9.9 9.1 11.0 10.0 Warmest 1st half March, Warmest March 1963 Mean -2.1 -0.7 6.0 8.7 10.6 14.9 15.2 14.3 12.9 11.1 8.2 2.6 -0.3 8.4 14.8 10.7 6.2 10.7 8.5 Coldest Winter 1972 Mean 3.9 4.3 6.5 8.2 10.5 11.8 15.6 15.1 11.7 10.6 6.3 5.8 4.9 8.4 14.2 9.5 7.5 10.9 9.2 Coldest June= 1974 Mean 5.9 5.4 5.8 8.2 11.0 13.9 15.2 15.2 12.1 7.8 6.8 8.1 5.4 8.3 14.8 8.9 8.4 10.9 9.6 Warmest 2nd half December, Warmest December= 1975 Mean 6.8 4.4 4.8 8.3 9.9 14.7 17.4 18.7 13.5 9.9 6.3 5.3 6.4 7.7 16.9 9.9 8.2 11.9 10.0 Warmest 1st half August 1976 Mean 5.9 4.5 4.8 8.1 12.1 17.0 18.7 17.6 13.4 10.6 6.3 2.0 5.2 8.3 17.8 10.1 8.7 11.4 10.1 Warmest 2nd half June, Warmest 1st half July, Warmest Summer 1985 1 4.0 9.4 5.1 10.6 8.4 13.1 16.4 14.6 12.6 20.2 6.7 8.4 Warmest Oct day 1987 Mean 0.8 3.8 4.1 10.3 10.1 12.8 15.9 15.6 13.6 9.7 6.5 5.6 3.6 8.2 14.8 9.9 7.0 11.2 9.1 Warmest 2nd half April 1992 Mean 3.7 5.4 7.5 8.7 13.6 15.7 16.2 15.3 13.4 7.8 7.4 3.6 4.6 9.9 15.7 9.5 9.1 10.6 9.9 Warmest 2nd half May 1994 12 8.0 3.1 6.0 6.8 13.9 12.6 20.4 15.2 12.9 11.2 10.7 12.9 Warmest Dec day 1994 Mean 5.3 3.2 7.7 8.1 10.7 14.5 18.0 16.0 12.7 10.2 10.1 6.4 4.7 8.8 16.2 11.0 8.3 12.2 10.2 Warmest 2nd half November, Warmest November 1995 1 1.7 7.9 6.9 13.3 11.6 12.0 15.7 24.9 16.5 13.8 10.4 7.4 Warmest Aug day 1995 Mean 4.8 6.5 5.6 9.1 11.6 14.3 18.6 19.2 13.7 12.9 7.7 2.3 5.9 8.8 17.4 11.4 8.7 12.4 10.5 Warmest August 2001 Mean 3.2 4.4 5.2 7.7 12.6 14.3 17.2 16.8 13.4 13.3 7.5 3.6 4.5 8.5 16.1 11.4 7.9 12.0 9.9 Warmest October 2004 4 3.7 12.8 6.7 8.9 8.8 16.4 14.3 19.2 18.6 12.7 9.9 5.1 Warmest Feb day 2005 Mean 6.0 4.3 7.2 8.9 11.4 15.5 16.9 16.2 15.2 13.1 6.2 4.4 5.2 9.2 16.2 11.5 8.9 12.0 10.4 Warmest 2nd half March, Warmest 2nd half October 2006 Mean 4.3 3.7 4.9 8.6 12.3 15.9 19.7 16.1 16.8 13.0 8.1 6.5 4.1 8.6 17.2 12.6 8.3 13.4 10.8 Warmest 2nd half July, Warmest July, Warmest 2nd half September, Warmest September, Warmest Autumn, Warmest 2nd half, Warmest Year 2007 Mean 7.0 5.8 7.2 11.2 11.9 15.1 15.2 15.4 13.8 10.9 7.3 4.9 6.4 10.1 15.2 10.7 9.7 11.3 10.5 Warmest 1st half, Warmest 1st half January 2011 Mean 3.7 6.4 6.7 11.8 12.2 13.8 15.2 15.4 15.1 3.1 10.2 14.8 15.1 9.1 15.2 11.1 Warmest 1st half April, Warmest April, Warmest Spring=

[Weather-history]

The TORRO site has the record low for May set in 1941 of -9.4c. It has the record for September being -6.7 in 1942. Are these still current records as that site might be out of date.

http://www.torro.org...te/mintemps.php

They are still records. We haven't broken any monthly minima records for some years. The last occasion was when we broke the December minimum in 1995.

Edited October 5, 2011 by Mr_Data

[Aaron]

The TORRO site has the record low for May set in 1941 of -9.4c. It has the record for September being -6.7 in 1942. Are these still current records as that site might be out of date.

http://www.torro.org...te/mintemps.php

Interesting Garforth, 2 miles from here, has recorded one of the lowest temperatures in April in the UK at -12.8c..

[Robbie Garrett]

Speaking of extremes what's London's lowest minima?