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Saint Snow
27 March 2023 08:56:17

Spring always feels cold at this time of year because it is cold. Spring 'proper' doesn't really get going until May in my opinion, which is why I detest March and April more than any other months of the year. Long daylight hours but with the landscapes and feel of the air still looking and feeling like midwinter. 

Originally Posted by: Chunky Pea 




I wouldn't go as strong as to say I detest them, but they're my least favourite months. 

All a bit 'nothing'. If it's cold, it's rare to get good snow that stays around for days; if it's warm, it's only 'relatively' warm. 

Martin
Home: St Helens (26m asl) Work: Manchester (75m asl)
A TWO addict since 14/12/01
"How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power? Here lies the whole art of Conservative politics."
Aneurin Bevan
+1
Snowjoke
27 March 2023 10:41:46

Not sure about Wales, and very jealous to be not living in that area, but lockdown 2020 was incredible here, we ate lunch outside most days in April & May with beautiful silence from the lack of far off road traffic and further off air polution.

Originally Posted by: tierradelfuego 



Yes I had forgotten the lockdown spring here in France, which was dry and warmish. It's always like lockdown here as it is so dead!! If anyone is not familiar with the French countryside in the Massif Central then you would not believe how empty it is. Drive through most villages or hamlets and you'll not see a living soul! Many houses here are empty most the year and taken over by Parisians in July and August.

This spring so far, 2022 and 2021 have all been unsettled, with some warm spells, but mainly cool with fierce northerly or north east winds (la Bise). Not much T shirt weather. Hasn't it been a La Nina yar this winter? Cooler than normal and carrying on into spring. I saw on Gardeners World that Monty's place Longmeadow had recorded -14 this winter. Much cooler than normal for that location. Our max low was -12, but we had snow on the ground for well over four weeks. Our property is at 810 metres asl though.

Just aching for some sustained warmth now.

 
Bolty
27 March 2023 18:12:28
Still no sign of a proper warm spell, but at least the models are showing more of a high pressure influence once we get past this week. Once we get to April, it can still feel very decent in sunshine and light winds, even under a cool air mass (today for instance). April 2021 was also pretty good for that.; cold, but very sunny and calm so it as acceptable.

April is also when the first home grown warmth can start to form too.
Scott
Blackrod, Lancashire (4 miles south of Chorley) at 156m asl.
My weather station 
tierradelfuego
27 March 2023 18:51:52

Yes I had forgotten the lockdown spring here in France, which was dry and warmish. It's always like lockdown here as it is so dead!! If anyone is not familiar with the French countryside in the Massif Central then you would not believe how empty it is. Drive through most villages or hamlets and you'll not see a living soul! Many houses here are empty most the year and taken over by Parisians in July and August.

This spring so far, 2022 and 2021 have all been unsettled, with some warm spells, but mainly cool with fierce northerly or north east winds (la Bise). Not much T shirt weather. Hasn't it been a La Nina yar this winter? Cooler than normal and carrying on into spring. I saw on Gardeners World that Monty's place Longmeadow had recorded -14 this winter. Much cooler than normal for that location. Our max low was -12, but we had snow on the ground for well over four weeks. Our property is at 810 metres asl though.

Just aching for some sustained warmth now.

 

Originally Posted by: Snowjoke 



Yes my parents lived in rural Charente so I'm sure it was very similar although maybe more Brits there given the proximity to the Loire, Dordogne and Cognac. It was pretty quiet even in the height of summer to be honest, in some ways lovely but in some ways a shame to see the lack of life, I was always torn. I remember driving to Poiters at "rush" hour on a Monday morning to pick up my now wife from the train station and there was nigh on not a car on the road until 5km from the city centre. Not like the UK for sure.

Many a decade since I drove south, well before the bridge, that for sure, but you certainly have some altitude working against you for warmth.
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
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johncs2016
28 March 2023 04:07:30

I remember spring 2020 as very pleasant in terms of weather which made lockdown that little bit more tolerable. Long walks on the sunshine, quiet roads etc.

Although as this is the moaning thread my moan is that it has been snowing today and when it it is due to warm up in the coming days it looks like being rather unsettled.

Originally Posted by: doctormog 



That period was very sunny (I can remember all of the discussions on here about the air also being a lot cleaner during that period due to the fact that there wasn't the usual air traffic then), but it can't also be forgotten that there was also some very cold nights back then.

The preceding winter had been a very wet and virtually completely snowless winter which was dubbed as the polar vortex of doom as a result. This then led to a hotel/guest house in Hawick which was located at the very point where the River Stilrig flows into the River Teviot being washed away by Storm Ciara in February 2020.

This means that in at least one of those much sunnier months in the spring of 2020, we actually ended up with more air frosts being recorded here in Edinburgh than what we had during the whole of the preceding winter.

However, that didn't prevent the days from being fairly warm which then led to some very decent diurnal temperature ranges then, and it was just such a shame that we weren't really allowed to enjoy that lovely weather for any length of time due to the restriction which were in place then.

EDIT

I've just had a lot back through the archives of what I posted on here during those lockdown months and it turns out that there wasn't actually as many frosty nights back then as what I seem to remember. Having said that though, there was as many air frosts back in May 2020 as what there was in January of that  year. At that time, I was using the older 1981-2010 averages for my reports on here but even with that, the Spring of 2020 actually had fewer air frosts than that particular spring average.

Looking back, there was a total of 9 air frosts at Edinburgh Gogarbank during the spring of 2020 and even when you compare that with the current 1991-2020 average which I now use for these reports, that still comes out slightly less than that particular spring average.

Having said that though, there was still some decent diurnal temperature ranges during that period. This was before the time when I started recording ground frosts on here (that came about when I started to learn how to decode raw SYNOP/BUFR data rather than just copying and pasting the publicly displayed data from the appropriate sources), and I'm sure that there were probably quite a number of occasions back then when we would have had a ground frost, but without actually getting an air frost although the fact that we had as many air frosts in May 2020 as we had in January of that year just shows how much of a complete write-off for cold weather that winter of 2019/20 actually was.

Since then, we haven't had a winter which has been as wet as that, but there hasn't exactly been a lot of sustained cold weather during those more recent winters either, with some very poor figures for air frosts being recorded once again during the winter of 2021/22 in particular.
 
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
Tom Oxon
28 March 2023 19:35:37
Quite like my walks, the ground is absolutely sodden here at the moment with lots of surface water, local ponds bursting their banks and streams gushing.  More like a wet November in terms of the terrain.  Absolutely no sign of drought.
S Warwickshire countryside, c.375ft asl.
DEW
  • DEW
  • Advanced Member
28 March 2023 20:12:32

Quite like my walks, the ground is absolutely sodden here at the moment with lots of surface water, local ponds bursting their banks and streams gushing.  More like a wet November in terms of the terrain.  Absolutely no sign of drought.

Originally Posted by: Tom Oxon 



According to the BBC, Cambridge (not a million miles from you) has had more rain in March - 97mm - than in the whole three winter months preceding it - 67mm.
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell

Chichester 12m asl
Stormchaser
30 March 2023 09:08:28
As an avid cyclist and countryside walker, March and April are all about getting those first days of 'drying sun' that really start to diminish the muck of the winter. When the weather's very sunny and the wind not too cold, these months can produce some of the most pleasant weather of the year from my perspective, as I have a high metabolism that means I'm usually comfortable in a light jacket at around 8-14°C depending on how windy it is. If it's very sunny with light winds I can even walk around in short sleeves in temps as low as 10°C.

This month has been sorely short on such weather here. The only very sunny day was 2nd March with 8.4 hours. The top day since then, 14th, saw a mere 6.3 hours. On top of that it's rained very often with only 2 dry days since 6th. As a result, it's so mucky outside in this rural area that you always come back from walking with some mud on whatever's covering your legs, even after sticking to pavements the whole time.

The total sunshine to 29th is 52.5 hours. The dullest March of 1957-2022 recorded 69.2 hours. The forecast is for some sunny spells today, then yet more cloudy skies tomorrow. So, a new record dullest is certain and it could be by a large margin!

Rainfall is at 75.9 mm to 29th, 132.4% of the whole month average with showers expected today and a fair bit of rain tonight through tomorrow. It's currently 20th wettest on record but probably won't get anywhere near the wettest on record, which was both 2018 and 1981 with a whopping 123.8 mm. 3rd is 2001 with 111.5 mm, again likely well out of reach.

2018 saw 79.8 hours sunshine, still very poor but not as tragic as 2023. In 1961 a relatively healthy 110.7 hours was recorded, only around 16 short of the long-term average. 2001... we already know about, soon to be 2nd dullest on record.

In that respect, from most to least horrendous March from my perspective, the order would be 2023, 2001, 2018, 1961.

I can't wait for the transition to a much drier weather regime starting Sunday, even though it's not looking great temperature-wise. Sunshine remains to be seen.
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2023's Homeland Extremes:
T-Max: 30.2°C 9th Sep (...!) | T-Min: -7.1°C 22nd & 23rd Jan | Wettest Day: 25.9mm 2nd Nov | Ice Days: 1 (2nd Dec -1.3°C in freezing fog)
Keep Calm and Forecast On
idj20
30 March 2023 12:53:43
Autumn's final fling (hopefully) tomorrow before things start to settle down thereafter. I've only been able to get in a single lawn mowing session so far this year (and that was in February) when normally I'd be on my third or fourth by now.  
Folkestone Harbour. 
johncs2016
30 March 2023 16:06:42
Thankfully, this month isn't turning out to be as excessively dull here as what February was. As at 4pm BST (15:00 UTC) this afternnon though, we still needed at least another 13.7 hours of sunshine to be recorded between now and tomorrow at sunset at Edinburgh Gogarbank in order for this month to go go down as being sunnier than average there.

Today has been fairly cloud with just a few sunny intervals earlier on, so a total of just under an hour of sunshine has been recorded for today so far at Edinburgh Gogarbank as at 4pm BST (15:00 UTC) this afternoon.

As wetter weather spread in further south during tomorrow, we are expected to be impacted by cloudier weather as a result of the winds coming in from off the North Sea and so, this is now looking like being yet another duller than average month here and it now seems to have become very difficult now, to actually get a sunnier than average month here.
 
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
Bolty
31 March 2023 16:32:54
A poor first month to spring here. A failed snow event during a cold and cloudy first half of the month, followed by an excessively cloudy and wet second half. A March for the bin, IMO.
Scott
Blackrod, Lancashire (4 miles south of Chorley) at 156m asl.
My weather station 
tierradelfuego
31 March 2023 17:54:37
Great month for rainfall, 130mm, and a surprise 8 - 10cm snow as our first for the "winter", albeit it wrecked my veg cage roof so had to buy a new one. Pretty dull though would be my major rant, would have preferred some warmer temps but not that worried on that front, plenty of time...
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
135m ASL

VP2 with daytime FARS
Rainfall collector separated at ground level
Anemometer separated above roof level
WeatherLink Live (Byles Green Weather)
Bolty
31 March 2023 19:18:34

Great month for rainfall, 130mm, and a surprise 8 - 10cm snow as our first for the "winter", albeit it wrecked my veg cage roof so had to buy a new one. Pretty dull though would be my major rant, would have preferred some warmer temps but not that worried on that front, plenty of time...

Originally Posted by: tierradelfuego 



Indeed, but the thing that annoys you is, we'll probably get a dry April now and come the end of the month they'll all be going on about drought concerns again. I just find it ridiculous that water shortages should even be a possibility in a country overall as wet as the UK. Even in the driest year on record, we shouldn't need water restrictions as our infrastructure should have the capacity to store water for that long.

I will never follow a hosepipe ban in this country.
Scott
Blackrod, Lancashire (4 miles south of Chorley) at 156m asl.
My weather station 
tierradelfuego
31 March 2023 19:30:03

Indeed, but the thing that annoys you is, we'll probably get a dry April now and come the end of the month they'll all be going on about drought concerns again. I just find it ridiculous that water shortages should even be a possibility in a country overall as wet as the UK. Even in the driest year on record, we shouldn't need water restrictions as our infrastructure should have the capacity to store water for that long.

I will never follow a hosepipe ban in this country.

Originally Posted by: Bolty 



and given we're an island, a desal plant or two might not be a bad thing to worth considering. Don't get me wrong, not something I've looked into, and they maybe horrendous environmentally but if not..
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
135m ASL

VP2 with daytime FARS
Rainfall collector separated at ground level
Anemometer separated above roof level
WeatherLink Live (Byles Green Weather)
DEW
  • DEW
  • Advanced Member
31 March 2023 21:23:40

Indeed, but the thing that annoys you is, we'll probably get a dry April now and come the end of the month they'll all be going on about drought concerns again. I just find it ridiculous that water shortages should even be a possibility in a country overall as wet as the UK. Even in the driest year on record, we shouldn't need water restrictions as our infrastructure should have the capacity to store water for that long.

I will never follow a hosepipe ban in this country.

Originally Posted by: Bolty 



I shouldn't think you'll have to worry this year. Reservoir levels in the NW are well up to (and in most cases over) average.
https://www.unitedutilities.com/help-and-support/your-water-supply/your-reservoirs/reservoir-levels/ 

And in the SE the largest reservoir is well above average; others also pretty full
https://www.southernwater.co.uk/water-for-life/reservoir-levels 
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell

Chichester 12m asl
+1
johncs2016
01 April 2023 08:08:24

I shouldn't think you'll have to worry this year. Reservoir levels in the NW are well up to (and in most cases over) average.
https://www.unitedutilities.com/help-and-support/your-water-supply/your-reservoirs/reservoir-levels/ 

And in the SE the largest reservoir is well above average; others also pretty full
https://www.southernwater.co.uk/water-for-life/reservoir-levels 

Originally Posted by: DEW 



Here in SE Scotland though, it continues to be a completely different story. Last month was only our first wetter than average month of this year and even that month wasn't what exactly what you would refer to as a washout as our totals were still not all far above average even then.

It seems to me that the wet weather is usually always either to our north (which makes it fairly dry here whilst the south of England is dry, and with the wet weather really being confined mostly yo the west and north of Scotland), or to our south (which means that it is still dry here when it is wet in the south as a result of Atlantic weather systems never getting this far north). Then when weather systems do cross here, they all too often break up in the process which means that we then get very little in the way of rainfall from them.

The result of this is that this broad swathe in SE Scotland in particular just keeps on missing out in that all important rainfall whilst the rest of the UK have no problems with that, and have seen their river and reservoir levels recover as a result.

As a write, we are now a quarter of the way through 2023 already and because of that, we should have received on average, around a quarter (i.e. around 25%) of our annual rainfall by now. However, that has not happened this year and as I write, we have only had around 19% of our average annual rainfall so far, so we are quite a long way behind where we should be at this stage of the year in terms of rainfall.

Meanwhile, SEPA have released their latest water scarcity report which highlights the dry winter quite well. That was preceded by an autumn which was relatively wet (though as per usual, not excessively so) which helped to recover things to a certain extent. However, the dry winter (with the notable exception of December which was last winter's only wetter than average month) has now raised concerns once again though and as I said above, last month wasn't excessively wet here.

This means that unless we get an increase in rainfall here from now on, water shortages could well become a real issue here once again as we go towards the end of this spring and into the coming summer and with last year being such a dry year overall, any water shortages which do arise during this year are likely to be even worse and more severe than anything of that nature which was witnessed during last year.
 
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
richardabdn
02 April 2023 10:42:55
Just back from a trip to London. First half had normal mixed British weather second half was horrific and amongst the vilest spells of unadulterated garbage I have ever suffered at this time of year. Would have expected better weather on a whale spotting cruise round the Faroe Isles 🤮

Absolutely shocking. No sun since Monday apart from Thursday which was nowhere near as good as it was up here. It reminded me of June 2007. Rain on Tuesday to be replaced by murk, gloom and drizzle the next day. Friday even worse to be followed by more gloom yesterday. Heathrow had a max of 11.9C apparently. Utter cobblers. It was cold, grey and miserable. Max of 9.8C at Kenley better reflected the dire conditions I was experiencing in Central London. Heathrow temperatures are just a joke 🙄

Best day I experienced in my fortnight off was Tuesday 21st March up here which was 14C and sunny. Way better than anything experienced in the SE which says it all. Best days were the 25th and 27th which were the only days I could take trips out. Went to Sandwich on the 25th where it was sunny and around 12C but very windy. 27th I went down to Beach Head where it was sunny but only around 10C.

Back home and the misery continues. Cold, grey filthy soul destroying tripe. 7C with a featureless grey sky. Yesterday had a max of just 5.6C which was lower than all but one day during February. Early April is becoming the most predictable time of year with cold miserable rubbish every year since 2018 except for 2020.

Also, I thought the ludicrousness of the weekend curse of 2019/20 and late 2021 couldn't be beaten but this run of repulsive Sundays is putting up a challenge to that. Absolutely ridiculous. Last sunny Sunday was 12th February 😡

With the frostless February, the hideous start to Spring and the extreme Weekend Curse this year is turning into the year from hell to rival 2014 🤢
Aberdeen: The only place that misses out on everything


2023 - The Year that's Constantly Worse than a Bad November
2024 - 2023 without the Good Bits
Bolty
02 April 2023 14:44:16
Finally a change of fortunes in the weather. I really do love these first mild and sunny days in spring. It always feels as though a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders, after months of depressing cold and darkness. Roll on a nice sunny and pleasantly warm rest of spring and summer!
Scott
Blackrod, Lancashire (4 miles south of Chorley) at 156m asl.
My weather station 
richardabdn
07 April 2023 12:00:06
Another monstrously vile week 🤬

Grey skies, strong winds, the worst possible combination of rotten cold day temperatures and disgusting mild nights resulting in an appalling temperature range of less than 8C over a week at the time of year when temperature variation should be at its greatest 🤢

Ghastly doesn't even begin to describe this putrid start to April. It feels like a bad November with nothing remotely springlike. No warmth, high diurnal ranges, convection. Nothing at all worth having.

Only Monday and Tuesday were sunny but completely ruined by the wind which was ridiculous, especially on Monday, despite pressure of 1030mb. Accompanied by a pitiful high of only 8.1C it was a complete joke. 

The past two days saw a return to the poison I endured in London last week. Horrific dank grey sunless skies and rain that won't let up. Awful. More rain is the last thing that's needed.

Today has degenerated into abject horror of filthy cold grey after a sunny start and this crud looks like sticking around to give an Easter weekend from hell on a par with last years rotten lousy stinking dross 🤮

Another crap weekend in a year of relentless crap weekends. Just endless unusable cold, grey rubbish weekend after weekend. Every time the weekend curse goes way it always comes back even worse than ever 🤬

Yet again instead of being able to do the outdoors activities that I enjoy, I will be stuck indoors feeling miserable and depressed wondering what the hell I've done to deserve such an unfulfilling existence in this miserable Eternal Autumn 💩 hole.
Aberdeen: The only place that misses out on everything


2023 - The Year that's Constantly Worse than a Bad November
2024 - 2023 without the Good Bits
NMA
  • NMA
  • Advanced Member
14 April 2023 07:41:28
Time to do to do an Aberdeen.

I'm guessing there are places on the South Coast that have yet to reach 13C this year. Portland being one place stuck out in the Channel where the sea temp is still in single figures.
I think 15C is the best so far for me inland and that was a blink and you'd miss it on the wall thermometer. 

A copywriter's now predicting a 'soft heatwave' up to 15C sometime next week. The story's been farmed out across the UK. WTF. Where do these hacks get their inspiration from?
Iceland?
Vale of the Great Dairies
South Dorset
Elevation 60m 197ft
Bolty
14 April 2023 15:01:55
It's been a poor week here. If it hasn't rained, there's been an annoying near gale-force wind instead. I'm really just looking forward to something warmer and more settled now. We've got all autumn and winter for wind and rain.
Scott
Blackrod, Lancashire (4 miles south of Chorley) at 156m asl.
My weather station 
tierradelfuego
14 April 2023 17:22:53
8 frigging degrees the max here today, grey albeit only 1.6mm of rain.

Think the chances of a 20c this April are reducing given next week's change to an easterly, but still a while left yet, so we'll see.

Given my question a while back on the last time we didn't see a 20c in March, I looked back at Aprils as it must be years since the last time. Well no, 2021 in fact, even down here, so not that long ago being an understatement. That said 2021 saw 15 frosts in April, so at least it was clear and "usable" weather for outdoors...
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
135m ASL

VP2 with daytime FARS
Rainfall collector separated at ground level
Anemometer separated above roof level
WeatherLink Live (Byles Green Weather)
Col
  • Col
  • Advanced Member
15 April 2023 06:15:22

8 frigging degrees the max here today, grey albeit only 1.6mm of rain.

Think the chances of a 20c this April are reducing given next week's change to an easterly, but still a while left yet, so we'll see.

Given my question a while back on the last time we didn't see a 20c in March, I looked back at Aprils as it must be years since the last time. Well no, 2021 in fact, even down here, so not that long ago being an understatement. That said 2021 saw 15 frosts in April, so at least it was clear and "usable" weather for outdoors...

Originally Posted by: tierradelfuego 



I've been wondering about this, what is the latest date that 20C has been recorded? I can't imagine that even in the coldest and most miserable of springs, it could go beyond mid-May.
Col
Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl
Snow videos:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QvmL4UWBmHFMKWiwYm_gg
DEW
  • DEW
  • Advanced Member
15 April 2023 06:24:31

I've been wondering about this, what is the latest date that 20C has been recorded? I can't imagine that even in the coldest and most miserable of springs, it could go beyond mid-May.

Originally Posted by: Col 



There was one year when we lived in Manchester (could it have been 1969?) when we didn't see 20C  there until going on holiday abroad in July. Abroad it was hot, and the hot weather spread to Britain later that month.

Having got to Germany to stay with friends there, temps were in mid 30s C and we couldn't stand the heat, made our apologies, and spent the rest of the holiday in the Alps.

See https://www.trevorharley.com/1969.html?utm_content=cmp-true  for possibilities
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell

Chichester 12m asl
tierradelfuego
15 April 2023 07:34:50

I've been wondering about this, what is the latest date that 20C has been recorded? I can't imagine that even in the coldest and most miserable of springs, it could go beyond mid-May.

Originally Posted by: Col 



Yes I have tried to find this to no avail.

I just looked at 2021 and it was the 27th May.

It didn't get much better through the summer with only 23.4c in August and 3 days above 30c the whole summer.
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
135m ASL

VP2 with daytime FARS
Rainfall collector separated at ground level
Anemometer separated above roof level
WeatherLink Live (Byles Green Weather)

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