SE, London and East Anglia - Weather Records and Statistics

[Blessed Weather]

10 hours ago, alexisj9 said:

The blue bit in this corner on the cloud anomaly can't be right, when most people in the Midlands, central south coast where moaning about no sun, it was sunny here for the most part. If it's right, must be normal for that area to be very cloudy in April.

Hi Alexis. There isn't a cloud specific chart, but of course the rainfall and sunshine charts a good indicator of cloud amounts, so here's a little bit more analysis of each chart for Kent:

Rainfall - this shows all of Kent with at least 125% of normal rainfall and with a very soggy western Kent at 200% (twice as much) rainfall as normal (i.e. versus the April average over the period 1991-2020). Taken at face value this chart would suggest a rather cloudy month overall for Kent, but of course it could mask a few days of heavy rain with otherwise plenty of sunshine during the month:

Sunshine - probably the more appropriate chart, this shows your neck of the woods (eastern Kent) with average sunshine amounts which suggests average cloud cover over the month. Eastern Kent experienced slightly below average sunshine, in line with experiencing more rainfall:

The only other chart showing blue over Kent was for the mean temperature which has eastern Kent as experiencing below average temps:

Hope that helps.

[alexisj9]

3 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

Hi Alexis. There isn't a cloud specific chart, but of course the rainfall and sunshine charts a good indicator of cloud amounts, so here's a little bit more analysis of each chart for Kent:

Rainfall - this shows all of Kent with at least 125% of normal rainfall and with a very soggy western Kent at 200% (twice as much) rainfall as normal (i.e. versus the April average over the period 1991-2020). Taken at face value this chart would suggest a rather cloudy month overall for Kent, but of course it could mask a few days of heavy rain with otherwise plenty of sunshine during the month:

Sunshine - probably the more appropriate chart, this shows your neck of the woods (eastern Kent) with average sunshine amounts which suggests average cloud cover over the month. Eastern Kent experienced slightly below average sunshine, in line with experiencing more rainfall:

The only other chart showing blue over Kent was for the mean temperature which has eastern Kent as experiencing below average temps:

Hope that helps.

Yes it does lol, I miss read them lat night, though the temp one was the sunshine one I think. Had just got in from the tournament I was at. Temp wise, it's that perpetual east wind, plus as I mentioned in the moans thread to people saying it wasn't cold, the frosts we had here, while it was cloudy to our west 

[Freeze]

Not overly warm here today only 14.7c 

[Blessed Weather]

5 hours ago, Freeze said:

Not overly warm here today only 14.7c 

Hopefully you reached a higher temp later on Freeze. As the cloud melted away here this afternoon the temp shot up and reached 20C at 18.00. Finally it felt like May. To be checked, but I believe that may be the latest date for us to reach 20C since 1983.

[Freeze]

11 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

Hopefully you reached a higher temp later on Freeze. As the cloud melted away here this afternoon the temp shot up and reached 20C at 18.00. Finally it felt like May. To be checked, but I believe that may be the latest date for us to reach 20C since 1983.

Reached 16c in the end, mainly due to the sea breeze I think.

[Blessed Weather]

Confirmation that Sunday 7th May was the warmest day of the year so far. That's the latest it's been since 1983:

 

[Blessed Weather]

May 2023

Whilst the overall stats would suggest a fairly average month overall for the Region, the SE corner - particularly Essex and Kent - recorded well below average rainfall. 

This analysis for East Anglia from Dan Holley, Weatherquest, Twitter @danholley_

• Mean temperature around average (±0.0°C) (T Max below average, T Min above average)
• Near-average rainfall - Wet first half of the month, very dry since mid-month (Wettest spring since 2012)
• Near-average sunshine

Possibly the big story of the month (which ran into June) was the seemingly relentless number of days with cool winds blowing in from a NE'ly quadrant, bringing low cloud in off the North Sea that was very slow to clear by day and holding back temperatures. The following images from the Sat24 satellite for the 14th May nicely illustrating the frustratingly slow progress of daily clearance (note: some days not clearing at all for eastern counties):

08.50  11.25  14.05 

This analysis from Dan Holley putting the 2023 run of NE'ly wind's into perspective:

"Monks Wood has now recorded 20 consec days with daily modal winds from a NE'ly quadrant. Most other sites are on 14 days, during which Weybourne has only received ~25% of its pot max sun hrs. Lamb Wx Type suggests this is the most persistent anticyclonic spell since 1982."

But not as bad as some years:

[SunSean]

24 minutes ago, Blessed Weather said:

May 2023

Whilst the overall stats would suggest a fairly average month overall for the Region, the SE corner - particularly Essex and Kent - recorded well below average rainfall. 

This analysis for East Anglia from Dan Holley, Weatherquest, Twitter @danholley_

• Mean temperature around average (±0.0°C) (T Max below average, T Min above average)
• Near-average rainfall - Wet first half of the month, very dry since mid-month (Wettest spring since 2012)
• Near-average sunshine

Possibly the big story of the month (which ran into June) was the seemingly relentless number of days with cool winds blowing in from a NE'ly quadrant, bringing low cloud in off the North Sea that was very slow to clear by day and holding back temperatures. The following images from the Sat24 satellite for the 14th May nicely illustrating the frustratingly slow progress of daily clearance (note: some days not clearing at all for eastern counties):

08.50  11.25  14.05 

This analysis from Dan Holley putting the 2023 run of NE'ly wind's into perspective:

"Monks Wood has now recorded 20 consec days with daily modal winds from a NE'ly quadrant. Most other sites are on 14 days, during which Weybourne has only received ~25% of its pot max sun hrs. Lamb Wx Type suggests this is the most persistent anticyclonic spell since 1982."

But not as bad as some years:

Just to note- That little blue blob of below average sunshine in the Southend/Shoeburyness area where I live can be explained by Shoeburyness weather station missing 3 days worth of sun data- Funnily enough being 3 of the sunniest days haha. Luckily I was keeping track of the satellite regularly so I filled in the blanks myself with an estimate as close as I could- But that's why that little area is showing below average when in reality it is moreless average.

[alexisj9]

2 minutes ago, SunSean said:

Just to note- That little blue blob of below average sunshine in the Southend/Shoeburyness area where I live can be explained by Shoeburyness weather station missing 3 days worth of sun data- Funnily enough being 3 of the sunniest days haha. Luckily I was keeping track of the satellite regularly so I filled in the blanks myself with an estimate as close as I could- But that's why that little area is showing below average when in reality it is moreless average.

Re sun in east Kent, I knew we had more than most, I remember people moaning about cloud, and me not posting about my sun a few times, and the times I did, I felt a bit guilty.

[Blessed Weather]

June 2023

Once the nagging cold wind off the North Sea finally eased off in the second week, not a bad month overall with well above average temps thanks to a warm second half more than making up for the cool start, below average rainfall and plenty of sunshine.

Stats for East Anglia courtesy of Dan Holley, Weatherquest:

• 2nd warmest June on record (behind 1976)
• Notably dry (driest since 2018)
• Sunniest June since 1976
• The cool and cloudy start to the month with persistent NE'ly winds until ~9th effectively eradicated by anomalous warmth in the following two weeks

Source: Dan Holley, Weatherquest. Twitter @danholley_

[Blessed Weather]

July 2023

The July stats confirm a disappointing month, especially with the below average sunshine levels and above average rainfall made even more noticeable following an exceptionally dry, warm and sunny June. A few observations: whilst the rainfall amounts averaged across the Region were above average, within that a patchy picture with some areas pretty much on the long-term average. Wrt sunshine amounts, it looks like the extreme coastal strip of N Suffolk/S Norfolk received around the average amount of sunshine. And is that Cambridge that looks to be an 'island' of average sunshine too?

Here's the national anomaly charts versus the 1991-2020 long-term average (mean temp, rainfall and sunshine):

Source: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-actual-and-anomaly-maps

Focusing in on East Anglia stats, courtesy of Dan Holley, Weatherquest, reveals:

• Near-average temperatures (-0.2°C)
• Wettest July since 2015 (149%)
• Dullest July since 2012 (84%)
• Highest number of July rain days since 2012
• This was the first July to not reach or exceed 30°C in this region since 2012.

Source: Twitter @danholley_

Final thought. I'm not a big fan of the Met Office habit of updating the reference period against which monthly results are compared as it seems to me to mask the variation versus the longer term, i.e. it compares against the recent last 30 years, which is too short a period in time imho. Here's an example using July 2023 temperature anomaly compared with the two reference periods available. First, against the 1991-2020 period and this shows temps were 'average'. But compared against the older 1961-1990 period it shows temps were actually warmer. So with climate change and ever rising temperatures, by continually moving (updating) the reference period 'goalposts' are we giving a false impression when we compare monthly results with the so-called long-term average?

[Blessed Weather]

August 2023

The month overall turned out to be pretty close to the 1991-2020 climate average for the Region (the period now used by the Met Office). Certainly a better month than the wet July. A few exceptions were some areas near the South Coast that saw slightly less sunshine, and a very notable wet area near the coast of East Anglia - but this was caused by a thunderstorm on the 18th of the month.

Some stats for East Anglia, courtesy of Dan Holley at Weatherquest, Norwich:

• Near-average temperatures (-0.2°C)
• Slightly drier than average (93%)
• Near-average sunshine (103%)
• Wattisham recorded 112mm (186% of its average rainfall). Meanwhile, Cardington received just 35mm (60% of average).

This tweet from Dan highlighted an interesting fact about Summer 2023:

Some rather meaningless trivia for a Sunday afternoon (3rd Sept), but at 1028 hPa today most observation stations in the region have recorded their highest pressure since 31st May — such was the absence of high pressure through most of the summer...

Source: X danholley_

[Blessed Weather]

The hottest location in the UK today, Friday 8th Sept 2023, was Cavendish in Suffolk. This from Dan Holley, Weatherquest:

Cavendish was the hottest place in the UK on Friday, reaching 30.9°C — a new September record at this site (records back to 1977). We've now recorded 3 consecutive September days ≥30°C in the region [East Anglia], equalling 2016 and 1906.

Source: X @danholley_

[Blessed Weather]

The September 2023 hot spell continues with many locations in East Anglia having now experienced 7 heatwave days.
Once again thanks to Dan Holley, Weatherquest, for the following max temp chart and stats for Sunday, 10th Sept:

• Cambridge NIAB was the hottest place in the UK on Sunday, peaking at 32.5°C.
• Many sites now on 7 heatwave days — even Weybourne finally joined in!
• 32.3°C is a new Sept record at Writtle (since 1959). Ditto 32.4°C at Brooms Barn (since 1964).

Source: X danholley_

[lottiekent]

It’s still so humid, 23.1c and haven’t had a drop of rain. And it’s 28c upstairs so that’s not going to be fun trying to sleep tonight

[Blessed Weather]

9 hours ago, lottiekent said:

It’s still so humid, 23.1c and haven’t had a drop of rain. And it’s 28c upstairs so that’s not going to be fun trying to sleep tonight

Interesting to see that at 23C the coastal strip of Kent was as hot as Central London at 10 pm last night. The very high temps in France yesterday meant it was still 27C in parts of Northern France at 10 pm, and with Kent being just a short hop across the Channel, with the gentle S/SE'ly breeze you were basically 'enjoying' imported heat from France.

[Blessed Weather]

September 2023

With a significant contribution from the five consecutive days of +30C temperatures at the start of September the month has been a record breaker. For the Region as a whole temperatures have been way above the long term (1991-2020) average and for many parts of the Region drier and sunnier than average.

This Sept summary from the Met Office:

Joint-warmest September on record for UK
The UK had its joint-warmest September on record in a series which goes back to 1884 according to provisional Met Office statistics. The UK’s September 2023 mean temperature of 15.2°C puts it level with 2006’s record figure in statistics that have been ‘substantially influenced’ by the impact of climate change.

Source: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2023/joint-warmest-september-on-record-for-uk

Zooming in on the stats for East Anglia as a whole:

• Warmest September on record (+3.0°C)
• Near-average rainfall (98%)
• Sunniest September since 2003 (120%)
• September was warmer than all three summer months — this has only happened twice before, in 1890 and 1929 (records back to 1884).

With thanks to Dan Holley, Weatherquest, for the chart and stats.
Source: https://x.com/danholley_/status/1708820898407399835?s=20

Edited October 4, 2023 by Blessed Weather
Mean Temp graph added

[Blessed Weather]

October 2023 warmth - Met Office tweet on 10th Oct:

Writtle in Essex has recorded 25.7 °C this afternoon, making it 4 days in a row with temperatures above 25 °C. The last time this happened in October was back in 1959.

Source: https://x.com/metoffice/status/1711750044292923512?s=20

And from Dan Holley, Weatherquest:

EAST: We've now recorded four consecutive days ≥25°C this October — since 1900 this has only happened twice before, in 1921 and 1959. Max temps in this region over the past few days:

• Sat: 25.2°C Shoeburyness
• Sun: 25.5°C Cavendish
• Mon: 25.6°C Cavendish
• Tue: 25.7°C Writtle

Source: https://x.com/danholley_/status/1711807252321927407?s=20

[Blessed Weather]

Storm Babet badly affecting most of the country, but here in our Region it appears that Suffolk came off the worse as the frontal system stalled over the county before continuing to move north. Here's the rainfall totals for the period 16th-22nd Oct with Babet being responsible for most of the soaking:

And here's how Dan Holley, Weatherquest, presented the rainfall for the worse couple of days:

Zooming in locally to the Met Office weather station at Wattisham, this tweet with an amazing graph shows how the October rainfall so far (to the 21st Oct) has smashed the previous record for the station:

Rainfall at Wattisham in Suffolk off the scale... up to 196.4mm for the month so far now (not including today), trashing the old October record of 138.7mm dating back to 1960.

Edit: Tweet with graph for record breaking 3-day rainfall for "Central" Region added.

For the "Central" region (encompassing Midlands + eastern England), the HadUKP series provisionally suggests the 19-20 October 2023 was the wettest 2-day period (54.8mm) in the whole dataset (back to 1931). The 18-20 October was also the wettest 3-day period (70.0mm) on record.

Source: Dan Holley, Weatherquest. https://x.com/danholley_/status/1716014653946372105?s=20

 

Source: https://x.com/RoostWeather/status/1715748385842430409?s=20

[Blessed Weather]

Storm Ciaran 2nd Nov 2023

Track and MSLP of the storm courtesy of Dan Holley, Weatherquest:

#StormCiarán produced the lowest mean sea level pressure since February 1989 across a large swathe of southern and eastern England, and across the English Channel...

Source: https://x.com/danholley_/status/1720527764862709805?s=20

The Netweather Hi-Res radar calculation of the rainfall from the storm during 2nd Nov:

The Region missed the strongest winds from the storm which tracked further south than forecast, taking the strongest winds on its southern flank with it. Surprisingly Cambourne near Cambridge appears to have recorded the highest in the Region, rather than a south coast location.

Sources: Track of Ciaran: https://x.com/danholley_/status/1720170155047546913?s=20
Wind Gusts: https://x.com/metoffice/status/1719994902648369548?s=20

 

 

 

[Blessed Weather]

October 2023

Well what an interesting month of weather. From the 7th - 10th the Region recorded four consecutive days of +25C and since 1900 this has only happened twice before, in 1921 and 1959. Then all change with the second half of the month, memorable for the amount of rainfall and flooding and Storms Babet and Ciaran. As a result the Region ended up with around average sunshine but above average temperatures and way above average rainfall.

Here's the summary charts and analysis from Dan Holley, Weatherquest.

For East Anglia:

• Joint 8th warmest Oct on record
• Wettest Oct since 2000 (ranked 12th)
• Near-average sunshine
• Wettest October on record: - Brooms Barn - Cambridge NIAB - Cavendish - Charsfield - Cromer - Houghton Hall - Santon Downham - Wattisham - Wittering

Source: https://x.com/danholley_/status/1721090381540999193?s=20

And digging deeper, some further analysis courtesy of Starlings Roost Weather using the SYNOP automated weather stations data:

East Anglia Rainfall: 

Anomaly:

SE Rainfall: 

Anomaly:

Top 10 Rainfall Anomaly:

Top 10 Sunshine Anomaly:

Source: http://starlingsroost.ddns.net/weather/ukobs/summary_month_summary_map.php?month=10&year=2023

 

[Blessed Weather]

Storm Domingos 4th November

Whilst the worst effects of Storm Domingos were felt along the Atlantic coasts of France and Spain with heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 80mph, for our Region it brought yet another spell of unwelcomed rain to already saturated southern counties. For the record here's a tweet from Roost Weather showing local amounts:

Rainfall over the past 12 hours, associated with #StormDomingos (totals >10mm shown only)

Source: https://x.com/RoostWeather/status/1720809757080957147?s=20

 

[Robert1981]

hello blessed weather when will november data for the month be posted please ?

[Blessed Weather]

1 hour ago, Robert1981 said:

hello blessed weather when will november data for the month be posted please ?

Hi Robert. Sorry, it's been a busy time and tbh I ended up forgetting. I'm in Germany atm but will sort it next week when I get back.

[Robert1981]

Just now, Blessed Weather said:

Hi Robert. Sorry, it's been a busy time and tbh I ended up forgetting. I'm in Germany atm but will sort it next week when I get back.

Hi , no worries I was reading them great for information 

 

1 minute ago, Blessed Weather said:

Hi Robert. Sorry, it's been a busy time and tbh I ended up forgetting. I'm in Germany atm but will sort it next week when I get back.

Hi no worries I there are a great read lots of information