Spring 2012

[Snowyowl9]

This LP is one of the rare ones coming in from the east so winds should turn more to the E/SE after this record cold NE-ly for very late april I`ve recorded today at 3.8c max.

Hail and sleet now.

[conor123]

This month is one of the worst in living memory here, a wet convective month is fine if theres reasonably amounts of sunshine but theres not been one day this month that has been pleasant enough to head outside bar the first which even then was rather cloudy.

Typically May is looking a case of same old same old.

[SP1986]

I#m glad Im not the only one who thought today was disgusting and vile. I have never before experienced an April day like this.. what I can say is if I didn't know better I would have said it was January.

Let's hope a day like this never repeats itself again.

This extremely weather lark is certainly not what I expected, hoped it would be like.

[Snowyowl9]

Keeping the extreme theme going this is the wettest april by far I`ve recorded now.

April 2000 gave 6.5" this now made 6.9" so that makes it the equal 3rd wettest month on record with july 2009.

July 2007 being the wettest.

[Cloudwatcher]

Absolutely dismal day here, one of the worst I can remember. No sunshine, just a constant layer of drab greyness and the rain not quite heavy enough to be "interesting", just constant. And the problem with my location is the North Easterlies push all of the chemical pollution from the refinery/ chemical plants over the town, so we have a great combination of disgusting weather AND a terrible stench. Not pleasant.

[BlueHedgehog074]

Does feel as though we're paying for that really dry period we have had, especially in Southern areas, with all the rain and showers that have occurred. But because showers can be hit and miss affairs, this will have likely affected the amount of precipitation places have had locally over the month. No doubt the longer spells of rain will have given a more even distribution of precipitation over a wider area, though like with showers, some places will have probably received generally heavy bursts, like in some Western areas today, while some may miss out on heavy bursts althogether and end up receiving light rain.

Edited April 29, 2012 by Rainbow Snow

[Bottesford]

A horrid day indeed with that howling wind and rain from the middle of the night until about an hour ago.

Things calming down a bit now at last but still cold & damp - certainly won't be venturing out in it!

Am really missing my weekend jogs/bike rides they've been very thin on the ground this month - running in wet conditions is just asking to break your leg round here!

Looks like some sunshine tomorrow at last - and some decent-ish temperatures. Shame it'll be a busy Monday so won't get to enjoy it much...

[Milhouse]

A horrid day indeed with that howling wind and rain from the middle of the night until about an hour ago.

Things calming down a bit now at last but still cold & damp - certainly won't be venturing out in it!

Am really missing my weekend jogs/bike rides they've been very thin on the ground this month - running in wet conditions is just asking to break your leg round here!

Looks like some sunshine tomorrow at last - and some decent-ish temperatures. Shame it'll be a busy Monday so won't get to enjoy it much...

Its been certainly a month to remember for all the wrong reasons. After a scorching March i was hopeful that we would see at least a period of HP dominated weather to experience some higher temperatures. It wasnt to be, and we've been stuck in a rut from the very start of the month. Its been a cool month throughout that started off quite dry but became progressively wetter as it went on which served to increase the misery.

The one positive is good job it wasnt July as we would have been looking at a ridiculously cool and wet month.

[feb1991blizzard]

A real pity about the spoiler cut off shortwave or we could have been looking at wintry PPN quite far south and to quite low levels in MAY, and that would have been a cold snowy start to two consecutive months following a warm start to March, not sure the last time that happened but probably rarely in my lifetime if at all.

[cyclonic happiness]

Its been certainly a month to remember for all the wrong reasons. After a scorching March i was hopeful that we would see at least a period of HP dominated weather to experience some higher temperatures. It wasnt to be, and we've been stuck in a rut from the very start of the month. Its been a cool month throughout that started off quite dry but became progressively wetter as it went on which served to increase the misery.

The one positive is good job it wasnt July as we would have been looking at a ridiculously cool and wet month.

Regardless of what anyone says, with the way the weather seems to get stuck in rather long and deep rooted ruts nowadays, I'd say it's good we're getting all the crud now as it bodes well for the first half of the summer at least?

(stands back and waits for the pedants to come out)

I believe that june will be a lovely and warm month and half of july, august however, will SUCK!

[Eugene]

Longer range charts do still offer hope for the summer

I hope those arent the same long range charts UKMO used when they said we were in for a dry April, hope you arent pinning your hopes on them

[Aaron]

Max of 17.5C today now 16.3C, shame because our highest temp until today was 13C

[Summer Sun]

I hope those arent the same long range charts UKMO used when they said we were in for a dry April, hope you arent pinning your hopes on them

Indeed longer range charts are offering hope for summer,

Temperature for June to August

Rainfall for the same period

[reef]

Indeed longer range charts are offering hope for summer,

Temperature for June to August

Rainfall for the same period

Those figures suggest slightly above average temperature and rainfall, so a similar summer to 2010 perhaps.

They're pretty far fetched though to be honest. These long range charts change regularly.

[Weather-history]

We are way overdue a cold April or at least one that is at least 0.5C below the 1961-90 average. I think the statistical elastic band on this one is well overstretched. I can't see this continuing.

SNAP!!!!!!!!

[SP1986]

SNAP!!!!!!!!

We are also due a plague of locusts, but we haven't one of them since 2003!

(ah you'll remember)

[Snowyowl9]

Spot the difference to april today wet wet wet.

[Summer Sun]

Somthings not right here we've gone 1 and a half days without rain, can we make it 2 full days rain free?

[Scorcher]

Okay in the vein of Mr Data I'm going to say we are also overdue a hot August, in the hope that 2012 breaks the run of poor Augusts!

As for May, I don't think it will be that warm overall but I can see high pressure taking over within the next two weeks, starting cool with some night time frosts but gradually becoming warmer as we begin to import some continental air.

Edited May 1, 2012 by Scorcher

[Andy Bown]

The warmest day of April was yesterday (the 30th at 17.1c) and today has reached 18.1c - I wonder if that will be the warmest temperature in May?

[Aaron]

Okay in the vein of Mr Data I'm going to say we are also overdue a hot August, in the hope that 2012 breaks the run of poor Augusts!

As for May, I don't think it will be that warm overall but I can see high pressure taking over within the next two weeks, starting cool with some night time frosts but gradually becoming warmer as we begin to import some continental air.

I actually agree that a decent August is overdue. My birthday is in August and I fail to remember the last time it was warm and sunny on my birthday, or even sunny at all.

[Bottesford]

Long long overdue a decent August for sure!

With a max of 12c and rain or drizzle all day - yet another awful spring day in these parts.

[AderynCoch]

The warmest day of April was yesterday (the 30th at 17.1c) and today has reached 18.1c - I wonder if that will be the warmest temperature in May?

A May that fails to reach 20C? I doubt that's ever happened before.

Locally we failed to breach 12-13C in April... until the very last day, when it reached a balmy 18C. April 2012 also fell at the last hurdle to join the "no double-figure CET daily means" club, recording 10.8C for the 30th.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

My highest minimum for April was 7.5C on Easter monday 9th April

[Thundery wintry showers]

Indeed, the last significantly warmer-than-average August taking the UK as a whole was the notoriously wet and thundery one in 2004, although 2009 was also warm in eastern England. Sunshine wise we have to go back to 2005 for the last generally sunny August, although 2007, 2009 and 2010 were reasonably sunny over certain areas of the country (2007 in NE England, 2009 in East Anglia and the SE, 2010 in parts of north-western Britain).

Even in Norwich August 2009 was not consistently sunny. The first half was mostly dry and cloudy there if I remember rightly, and a notable warm sunny spell in the third week was largely responsible for raising the month's sunshine total above the long-term average.

We are also overdue a good July from a warmth/sun/dryness perspective, despite having a long run of them during the 1990s (including 5 out of 6 during the period 1994-99). I may have found July 2009 quite enjoyable in eastern England but I can't deny that the month was a total washout in most central and western parts, while July 2010, though unusually warm in East Anglia and the SE, ended up wet and exceptionally dull in most western areas. Like in the 1960s and early 1970s, most of the relatively warm, dry and/or sunny weather has been concentrated in June over the past five summers.

As for April, my highest maximum for the month at Cleadon was 14.4C, which is the lowest absolute max for April since I began recording in 1993. Even the Aprils of 1998 and 2000 broke the 16C mark a couple of times, while the cool April of 2001 started with a southerly incursion.