Some local context for the recent and current warmth:
The maximums over the past 9 days have averaged at close to 15*C. That's pretty much halfway between the 1981-2010 max. temp. averages for April (13.1*C) and May (16.6*C), so arguably the current spell of weather is what we would typically expect in late April or early May, which is rather impressive - we're about a month and a half ahead of schedule in that respect!
The average maximum for the whole of March is only 0.16*C short of the LTA for April... again, impressive stuff.
Comparing with the average maximums since 2003 instead, April comes in at 14.4*C and may at 16.9*C, which raises the combined average by about 0.5*C, such that the current spell of weather ends up being more like mid-April based on the past decade alone.
Looking at the minimums, it's a whole different story, with the past 9 days averaging close to the LTA of 2.8*C, and the month as a whole actually 0.1*C below that value - this really reflects the mostly anticylonic and clear or foggy (still gets cold at night, tends to clear by 10-11am IMBY) nature of March's weather so far this year at my home location - which also applies for much of the UK.
The overall mean value is 7.8*C, and that's a little way beyond halfway between the March and April values, putting us level with what the LTA indicates we should expect in early April. Still not a bad achievement, and testiment to the notably high maximum average so far this month
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[email protected] https://twitter.com/peacockreports 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