What’s going on with May’s weather?
Yet again today, many of us have been dodging the downpours at a time of the year when we’d normally expect the weather to be perking up.
While April delivered us high pressure, sunshine and warmth, May, so far, has delivered low pressure, wind and rain. It’s as if the weather has got its dates muddled up.
Spring is renowned for being a mixed season, as the weather makes the transition from winter towards summer. But there’s no doubt that May hasn’t been great up to now.
A month’s worth of rain in two weeks
If you thought that May so far has been wet, then you’re right. Today, the Met Office released some figures up to the 17th day of the month.
You won’t be surprised to hear that it has been very wet, with the UK having had all of its May rainfall and a little bit more already – 6 per cent above normal, to be precise.
So far this month, it’s also been cooler than normal as well, with UK mean temperatures (a combination of day and night temperatures) around 1.2C below normal.
Why has it been so unsettled?
Normally during May, the jet stream tends to move north of the UK, diverting low pressure, wind and rain towards Iceland and Scandinavia.
However, so far this May, the jet stream hasn’t undertaken this shift northwards and has been sitting over or south of the UK, as well as moving quite quickly.
This has been spawning areas of low pressure and pushing them across us, bringing wind, rain and some chilly temperatures, with rural frosts remaining quite frequent.
Today’s downpours in pictures
Another area of low pressure, sitting just to the north east of the UK today, has brought heavy, thundery downpours across much of the country, with some hail mixed in too (find out how hail forms here).
There’s been quite a few pictures and videos on Twitter, capturing what can easily be described as April showers in May.
@liamdutton had some hail in scunthorpe earlier Liam pic.twitter.com/ldm2yCVOCw
— andy stones (@andy_stones) May 19, 2015
@bbcweather @liamdutton @MetcheckUK Bubbling clouds in Sandy pic.twitter.com/RrkYdVCjH4
— Dave B (@BadWolf4561) May 19, 2015
Moody sky over London this lunchtime @liamdutton pic.twitter.com/oiqbDE36BA
— Richard Slade (@sladedesign) May 19, 2015
If you’re thinking ahead to the bank holiday weekend already, don’t get your hopes up for summer-like warmth. While it won’t be a washout, don’t expect sunshine all the time and temperatures will remain below normal for this time of year.
Don’t forget, you can get the latest forecast on the Channel 4 Weather website. I also post regular updates on Twitter – @liamdutton