Climate summaries

Overview of weather across the UK for previous months, seasons and years

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UK last month

April 2024

April continued the theme of the previous few months, being unsettled, wet and dull. The April showers were present from the beginning of the month, with frontal systems bringing persistent rain across the UK. The eleventh named storm of the season, Kathleen, arrived on the 5^th/6^th, bringing heavy rain to Scotland, Wales, parts of Northern Ireland, and the west coast of England. Kathleen also brought strong winds across the UK, with gales along coasts, particularly in the north and west of the UK. However, the southerly source of the wind led to mild temperatures, particularly along the south-east coast of England: Santon Downham, Suffolk recorded 20.9°C on the 6^th. After a warm start to the month, temperatures dropped, with the last two weeks of April cooler than average. A high-pressure system moved over the UK on the 20^th, bringing some drier weather but cool temperatures to much of the UK. By the 25^th, low pressure was back, and the showers increased.

The cooler second half of the month balanced out the warmer first half of the month, resulting in a provisional average mean temperature of 8.3°C for the UK, only 0.4°C from the 1991-2020 long-term average. It was a wet month, with all countries provisionally recording over 100% of the average monthly rainfall. The UK overall recorded a provisional 111.4mm of rain, 155% of the long-term average. Scotland and northern England were particularly wet, recording 160% and 176%, respectively, of the average April rainfall. Edinburgh received over 200% of the average April rainfall, provisionally the second wettest April on record in a series from 1836. The month has overall been quite dull, with the UK provisionally recording only 122.9 hours of sunshine, 79% of the average.

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: A maximum temperature of 21.8°C was recorded at Writtle (Essex) on the 13th. A minimum temperature of -6.3°C was recorded at Shap (Cumbria) on the 26th. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 UTC on the 30th, 64.8mm of rain fell at Mickleden Farm (Cumbria). A wind gust of 66 knots (76 mph) was recorded at Loch Glascarnoch (Ross & Cromarty) on the 7th. A snow depth of 2cm was recorded at Kinross (Kinross-shire) at 0900 UTC on the 5th.

Regional values for April 2024