Winter 2011/12 – the final verdict
The Met Office have just released the winter season statistics that includes the months of December, January and February, so I thought I’d take a quick look at them and summarise the main points.
One thing that most of us have probably noticed is that this winter hasn’t been as cold or as snowy as previous years.
The only notable cold spell with widespread significant snowfall came late in the season during early February, with much of England and some parts of Wales seeing a few inches lying on the ground.
The remarkable February warmth is something that will be remembered quite well. A temperature of 18.7C was recorded on the 23rd at Coleshill, Warwickshire. Also, Durham had its highest February temperature ever, hitting 17.4C on the 28th.
Another notable highlight of the winter was the stormy weather that battered the UK in the first half of January. Deep areas of low pressure brought gales or severe gales to many areas, with gusts of 72mph recorded at Crosby, Merseyside and 93mph at High Bradfield, South Yorkshire.
December was also quite a windy month across the UK, with frequent spells of rain giving rainfall 34 per cent above average for the UK as a whole.
Winter rainfall for whole UK (% of average)
December – 134%
January – 90%
February – 63%
Whole winter – 99%
Despite almost average rainfall across the UK as a whole, there was a huge variation in where the rain fell.
Northern and western Scotland had their wettest winter in around 100 years. However, in contrast, southern and eastern parts of England were remarkably dry, with East Anglia and Lincolnshire having one of their driest Februarys on record.
This has not helped the ongoing problems with drought across central, southern and eastern parts of England.
Winter temperature for whole UK (mean temperature)
December – 0.6C above average
January – 1.3C above average
February – 0.7C above average
Whole winter – 0.9C above average
Winter sunshine for the whole UK (% of average)
December – 108%
January – 135%
February – 101%
Whole winter – 113%
With the transition into spring underway, the main focus over the next few months will be on rainfall. Above average rainfall is needed to help boost struggling water resources in some parts of the UK, otherwise there could well be some significant impacts this summer.
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