October 11th/12th 1978 autumn warmth

[Weather-history]

Mid October 1978 brought late season warmth to parts of the UK. The highest maxima recorded was 25.5°C  on the 11th at Harlow and 25.2°C on the 12th at Martyr Worthy

Other temperatures

11th

25°C at London

24.8°C at Gloucester

23.1°C at Bristol

23°C at Herne Bay

23°C at Manchester

22.6°C at Edgbaston

22°C at Scarborough

21°C at Colwyn Bay

21°C at Margate

20°C at Bournemouth

20°C at Kinloss

20°C at Newquay

 

12th

24°C at London

24°C at Poole

23°C at Bournemouth

23°C at Manchester

23°C at Scarborough

22.2°C at Edgbaston

22°C at Newquay

19°C at Dyce

 

                  

 

     

 

[Metwatch]

Probably falls in one of the best autumns of modern times as high pressure was so dominant in the south to our south east.

The CET was 11.4C, which is the 15th warmest in the series.

It was the driest EWP series, with 128.6mm! The south east region saw only 49.5mm which is simple astounding and drier than summer 1995 or 1976!

Trevor harley's summaries:

September. A dry month in England and Wales. Ex-hurricane Flossie brings strong winds - 104mph to Fair Isle.

October. One of the driest of the century, and particularly dry in the south. There was only 0.1 mm of rain all month at Gravesend, and some local spots had no measurable rain all month. It was very similar in style to 1969, with high pressure dominated the south of Britain, with westerlies bringing much rain to the north and west. It was also a consistently warm month in the south. Very mild midmonth - 25C in parts of the southeast in the 11th, and then 25.2C was recorded at Martyr Worthy (Hants.) on the 12th - this is the latest date 25C has been exceeded this century. At Nettlecombe (Somerset) the warmest day of 1978 was on 12th October at 24.3C, the latest date a warmest day has corrued. It was often foggy at night.

November. Very warm until a northerly outbreak on the 24th. Although it was mild and dry in the south, it was wet and often stormy in the north. There was a gust of 115 mph at Fair Isle on the 14th. 1978 was the last time we saw a November providing less than 50 mm of rain.

Leading into a good winter for cold and snow as well a repeat would be very welcome!