The UK in November

 

Mike Hulme on last month’s weather

 

 

DAYTIME TEMPERATURES

Temperatures across the UK averaged through November were close to normal, the south slightly milder, the north slightly cooler.  This means that despite the wet year - and very wet autumn - the year 2000 remains about 0.8C above the long-term average.  Temperatures during November were mildest during the first and last weeks, the highest temperatures being reached on the 28th and 29th of the month at nearly 4C above the seasonal norm.  The coldest weather was reserved for the third week, but even then nationwide daytime temperatures never fell below about 7C.  In relative terms, Scarborough was the coolest of the locations monitored here, nearly 1.5C below the average.

 

 

RAINFALL

Another very wet month, making autumn 2000 the wettest recorded in England and Wales since records commenced in 1766.  Indeed, it was England and Wales rather than Scotland and Northern Ireland that were very wet, rainfall over the latter two countries reaching only up to about 70% above normal.  Further south, however, many locations recorded twice their usual November rainfall - on average already the wettest month of the year - and some localised regions more than three times the usual totals.  For the second successive month Morecambe was the wettest of the 20 locations monitored in this survey with 244mm.  The nationwide average daily rainfall of 17mm on the 6th November represented the wettest day in the UK since October 1998.

 

 

SUNSHINE

Despite the high rainfall, November managed also to deliver more sunshine than usual for the UK.  This was mostly because of excess sunshine in Scotland where everywhere was sunnier than average, Lerwick recording 60 hours of sunshine compared to an average November total of just over 30 hours.  A few English and Welsh locations reached their monthly norm, but most regions - especially the northwest of England and north Wales - saw much more cloud than is usual for this month.  Indeed, when averaged across the country there was barely one hour of sunshine per day during the second half of November.

 

 

Dr Mike Hulme is a senior climate scientist at the University of East Anglia

(more details at website at www.cru.uea.ac.uk/~mikeh/)

 

 

November 2000: Very wet, especially in England

 

Daytime Temperature: 0.1C below average;          Rainfall:   79% above average;    Sunshine:  9% above average.

 

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

 

Mean monthly extremes:

 

Warmest          Guernsey                                        12.4C

Sunniest          Bournemouth                                  104 hours sun

Wettest          Morecambe                           244mm 

Coldest          Eskdalemuir                          7.0C

Cloudiest          Morecambe                           37 hours sun

Driest           Kinloss                                   77mm