The UK in March

 

Mike Hulme on last month’s weather

 

 

DAYTIME TEMPERATURES

March was a cool month in the UK, the only exceptions being the Channel Islands and the extreme southwest.  Guernsey was 2C warmer than usual, whereas Birmingham was about 2C colder than average.  Although Scotland was much drier and sunnier than the rest of the country (see below), daytime temperatures were mostly just as cold – typically around 1C below normal.  The coldest day of the month was the 1st, after which a mild spell occurred from the 7th to the 11th.  The warmest day of the month was the 7th March with a nationwide average daytime temperature of 12.4C.  Over the last 15 years, only March 1996 has been colder than March 2001.

 

 

RAINFALL

It is no surprise that March was another wet month in the UK – although this time the far northwest escaped with below average rainfall.  Tiree recorded a miserly 22mm during March (only 23 per cent of normal), compared to over 200mm in Guernsey.  Northern Ireland, the western Isles and southwest Scotland were also drier than average.  In contrast, central and southern England recorded between two and three times the average March rainfall.  Rainfall was quite evenly distributed throughout the month, the driest spell being the first six days and the wettest between the 17th and 24th.  For the country as a whole, rainfall in March was 63 per cent above average, the wettest March since 1988.  The period from April 2000 to March 2001 has been the wettest 12 month period in England and Wales recorded in 235 years of rainfall measurement.

 

 

SUNSHINE

Sunshine anomalies were the exact opposite of those for rainfall – central and southern England being cloudier than usual and most of the rest of the country sunnier.  Tiree was an amazingly sunny place to be during March with nearly six hours of bright sunshine per day – nearly twice its March average.  In contrast, Lowestoft could manage only about 2.5 hours sunshine per day.  The period 22nd to 27th March barely recorded one hour of sunshine per day for the UK as a whole.

 

 

Dr Mike Hulme is a Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, at UEA

(more details at website at www.tyndall.ac.uk)

 

 

March 2001: Cloudy and wet in the south, cool everywhere

 

Daytime Temperature: 0.9C below average;          Rainfall:   63% above average;      Sunshine:  1% below average.

 

[all average figures are based on the 1951-80 average]

 

Mean monthly extremes:

 

Warmest          Guernsey                                        12.9C

Sunniest          Tiree                                       182 hours sun

Wettest          Guernsey                                        224mm 

Coldest          Lerwick                                             4.9C

Cloudiest          Exmouth                                          61 hours sun

Driest           Tiree                                       22mm