UK climate summaries
These web pages are a source of information for those interested in the climate of the UK.
Those interested in climate change and predictions of future climates should also visit the Climate Change web pages.
UK last month
January 2010
The month was mostly unsettled, the first half being very cold with widespread snowfalls and some sharp frosts. After mid-month, temperatures rose to around normal before a return to colder conditions at month end. Overall, it was a very cold month with mean temperatures 2.5 to 3.0 °C below the 1971-2000 normal over England and Wales, 2.5 °C below over most of Scotland and 2.0 to 2.5 °C below over Northern Ireland. Provisionally, it was the coldest January over the UK since 1987 and equal eighth coldest in a series from 1914.
Rainfall was well below normal over many western areas, especially west Scotland and Cumbria, and close to normal elsewhere.
Sunshine totals ranged from more than 50% above average in the west to somewhat below average along the east coast. Provisionally, it is the eighth sunniest January in a series from 1929.
A maximum temperature of 12.4 °C was recorded at Exeter airport (Devon) on 16th. A minimum temperature of -22.3 °C was recorded on 8th at Altnaharra (Highland), the lowest anywhere in the UK since 1995. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 on 16th, 48 mm of rainfall was measured at St Clears (Carmarthenshire). 57 cm of lying snow was reported from Westgate (County Durham) at 0900 on 7th.
Monthly assessment | Actual and anomaly maps | Regional values
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