SE, London and East Anglia - Weather Records and Statistics

[Blessed Weather]

November 2023

The month started off wet and stormy weather with Storm Ciaran on the 2nd Nov particularly noteable for producing the lowest mean sea level pressure since February 1989 across a large swathe of southern and eastern England and across the English Channel. The storm resulted in 30 to 50mm of rain falling across southern England. Track and rainfall details of the storm were posted here. This was quickly followed by Storm Domingos on the 4th November and whilst the strongest winds were further south into France, the southern counties of the Region saw further heavy rain to add to flooding problems. Further details in this post.

The second half of the month saw drier, sunnier, colder and frosty weather with -0.8°C recorded at East Malling, Kent on the 12th and from the 24th a northerly airflow gave some hard frosts with -4.8°C recorded at Hurn, Dorset on the 28th and on the 30th Santon Downham overnight temp of -6.6C made it the coldest place in the UK (using the automatic weather stations data). This was the coldest November night at this site since 2016. There was even a dusting of snow for parts of Norfolk and Suffolk on the 29th.

In summary, overall the month ended wetter than the 1991-2020 average for southern and eastern counties, sunnier for most of the Region and with the mean temperature around average. Here's the Met Office charts for rainfall, sunshine and mean temperature anomaly versus 1991-2020 average:

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

[Blessed Weather]

Storm Henk 2nd Jan 2024

The first named storm of 2024 produced some heavy rain and strong winds across the Region. The GFS-WRF forecast on Monday 1st nicely captures the track and intensity:

Some stats on gusts experienced in East Anglia, courtesy of Dan Holley, X @danholley_

• 68mph Alton Water [unofficial]
• 67mph Andrewsfield (highest since Feb '22)
• 67mph Southwold [unofficial]
• 66mph Wattisham (highest since Feb '22)
• 63mph Luton
• 60mph Tibenham
• 59mph Southend
• 58mph Shoeburyness

And across the Region here are the gusts (mph) and rainfall (mm) totals courtesy of Roost Weather interactive map:

Source: http://starlingsroost.ddns.net/weather/ukobs/rain_daily_summary_map.php?date=2024-01-02&unit=

[Blessed Weather]

2023 in the East - Summary

The highlights from 2023 courtesy of Dan Holley, Weatherquest, X danholley_

EAST: 2023 — the 3rd warmest year on record (behind 2014 and 2022), featuring:

• 2nd sunniest Jan
• 7th sunniest Feb
• 3rd driest Feb
• 5th wettest March
• 2nd hottest June
• 7th sunniest June
• THE hottest Sept
• Joint 8th warmest Oct
• 4th warmest Dec

[Blessed Weather]

December 2023

Once the late November cold snap finally cleared at the end of the first week - swept away by Storms Elin and Fergus on the 9th and 10th - December was overall a mild and dull month for the Region with rainfall ending around average. Here's the rainfall, sunshine and temperature anomalies versus the 1991-2020 average:

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

Arguably the most noteworthy weather was the very mild period over Christmas with the UK recording its highest daily minimum temperature on record on Christmas Day with 12.4°C at East Malling, Kent, (also reached at Exeter Airport).

Also noteworthy was Storm Gerrit between 27th and 29th which produced very turbulent weather with strong winds and heavy rain. A gust of 74 mph was recorded at the Needles, Isle of Wight. Here's the wind gust chart from Starling Roost Weather for the 28th:

Source: http://starlingsroost.ddns.net/weather/index.php

[Blessed Weather]

Storm Isha 21st - 22nd Jan 2024

For the record, here's the Region's max wind gusts for Sun 21st and Mon 22nd (up to 07.00). Pretty much as per the model forecasts for gusts up to 100 kmh (62 mph) anywhere across the Region. So far it appears the strongest gust in our locale (taken from the official automated station network) was recorded at Odiham, North Hampshire, yesterday evening with 112 kmh (70 mph).

Sun 21st  Mon 22nd

Source: Starling Roost Weather

[Blessed Weather]

January 2024

A look at the monthly anomaly charts would suggest a rather uneventful month, but a few noteable weather events did give the month some interest.

On the 2nd January Storm Henk brought a Met Office weather warning for the Region and widely saw gusts of 60 mph (96 kmh) and a top gust of 94 mph (151 kmh) at the Needles lighthouse, Isle of Wight.

A cold snap around the 7th - 9th January saw some snow showers come into the Region on a brisk NE'ly, giving a light covering for some east coast locations and higher ground in Kent and Sussex. Another cold snap on the 18th/19th January saw a widespread very sharp frost overnight into the 19th. Min temps across the Region:

Another named storm - Isha - on the 21st and overnight into the 22nd January again saw gusts widely across the Region of around 60 mph (96 kmh) and a top gust of 112 kmh (70 mph) at Odiham, North Hampshire.

Zooming in on the stats for East Anglia reveals:

• Near-average temperatures (+0.2°C)
• Near-average rainfall (98%)
• 4th sunniest January on record (143%)

Interestingly, January 2024 continues a run of sunny Januarys with 2022, 2023 and 2024 all featuring in the top 4 sunniest Januaries (records back to 1910).

With thanks to Dan Holley, Weatherquest, for the summary chart and EA stats. See X @danholley_
Min temp & storm gust charts from Starling Roost Weather.

 

 

[Blessed Weather]

For the record, anomalous warmth on the 15th February 2024:

 

[Blessed Weather]

February 2024

It doesn't come as any surprise to see the stats for February 2024 which confirm the month was thoroughly wet, often mild (e.g. see previous post with Santon Downham reaching 18C on the 15th), and with below average sunshine amounts. All in all a notable month with several records for the Region broken. Met Office anomaly charts:

For East Anglia it was the wettest and mildest February on record whilst for the SE & Central England it was the mildest and 2nd wettest on record.

Furthermore, for East Anglia it was also the wettest October to February period on record and the 2nd warmest winter on record.

Whilst most locations across the Region saw over 100mm (4 inches) of rain during the month, there were many locations in the southern counties, namely Hampshire, W & E Sussex and Kent, that recorded over 200mm (8 inches) of rain. Wettest official station was at Plumpton, East Sussex, at 283mm (over 11 inches).

Sources:
Met Office: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-actual-and-anomaly-maps
Dan Holley, Weatherquest, X @danholley_
Dan Harris, Roost Weather, X @RoostWeather

[Blessed Weather]

March 2024

Overall for the Region a warmer and duller month compared with the long-term (1991-2020) average. Nevertheless, within that there was a mix of colder, frosty days to start the month, some pleasantly warm weather around the 20th, and even a few thunderstorms thrown in at various times. There was a real north/south split across the Region with regard rainfall amounts, with parts of Norfolk seeing only 50% of normal rainfall as rainbands fizzled out moving north, whilst parts of Kent and Surrey experienced more than double the normal average.

UK extremes during the month were:

Coldest: Benson, Oxfordshire, -4.6C on the 3rd.
Warmest: Charlwood, Surrey, 18.8C on the 20th.
Windiest: Needles, IoW, 81mph on the 1st and 28th.

Zooming in on East Anglia stats:

• 4th warmest March on record (+1.8°C)
• Slightly wetter than average (111%)
• Duller than average (82%)
• This is the 2nd warmest start to the year on record (behind 1990, data back to 1884).

Chart and EA stats courtesy of Dan Holley, Weatherquest. X @danholley_