|
January 2009
January 1st:
The year started cold for most parts, and quite a large area inland England, Wales & Scotland again failed to
rise above freezing, under a blanket of overcast clouds. Parts of east Wales stayed around -5C all day.
January 7th: The cold spell continued across England and Wales. Temperatures
fell to very low values overnight with -11.8C at Benson (Oxon) and unofficial values of -13C reported in a number
of areas in the south, such as Andoversford, Marlborough and Yatesbury. Even the Isles of Scilly fell to 0.0C, a
very rare event indeed and Camborne in west Cornwall reported as low as -13C just above the grass surface. Some
sleet and snow fell as well in central and southern areas though generally only enough to give a dusting for most. It was
so cold that some sea estuaries were freezing over; including the Dee, Dyfi, Poole, Plym and Bristol estuaries. At Bristol docks
the water froze, with the ice up to three inches thick in places, causing ferry services to be cancelled. The harbour
at Padstow (Cornwall) also froze over, ensuring seagulls a very slippery landing.
January
10th: The cold spell bowed out by giving some parts of the south coast their coldest night for about
20 years. The areas around Brighton reached as low as -7C with -4C right on the coast in the city centre. Further
inland Kenley (Surrey) reported -10.0C. Milder air and rain pushed east though into all parts by the 11th but even on the
evening of the 11th East Malling and Tonbridge (Kent) recorded -5.2C before temperatures rose.
January
23rd-24th: A deep low around 963mb,( named Klaus) crossed the Bay of Biscay into SW France and was the
cause of the most damage in a decade since the 1999 French storm that claimed the lives of 88 people. Winds gusted to
114mph at Perpignon in SW France before destroying the anemometer and to the same value on the exposed Cap Bear on the Mediterranean
in south France also. Bordeaux also recorded a gust of 100mph. Winds ahead of the low in the Bay of Biscay were
extreme too, earlier in the day a ship had reported a mean wind of 92 mph, so clearly it wasn't a great
surprise when the winds hit the coast and the storm was well forecast , though rather more extensive than anticipated. The
storm affected both NW and NE Spain & the Balearics, along with Corsica and Sardinia. The highest gust reported seems
to have been one of 215km/hr (134mph) at the exposed Punta Candeeira in extreme NW Spain. At least fifteen
people died as a result of the weather and in Barcelona four children were killed as the winds blew the roof off a local sports
centre. There was also extensive tree damage in upland rural Catalonia. Over 2 million homes lost power across France and
Spain as power lines were downed. A toppling transmission power line was also the cause of a large fire which
swept across an area near Alicante causing 20,000 people to be evacuated, exacerbated by 70mph winds.
January 25th: Although nothing like the storms experienced to the SW the
UK experienced some high winds in the SW overnight also as low pressure gradient winds increased due to a deep low
to the west. Polruan CG station (nr Fowey, Cornwall) reported a gust of 81mph on its Davis VP2 and Newhaven CG (E Sussex)
reported a gust of 67mph around 0930Z. The very deep low off SW Ireland by 09Z saw pressure there as low as
960mb, and the Marathon Buoy off Southern Ireland reported southerly winds gusting up to 60mph.
February 2009
February 2nd: A notably wintry spell begun on the
1st and was set to last through much of the next fortnight across parts of the UK. Low pressure to the south brought
cold NE'ly winds across from the continent. Worst affected were parts of Kent, Surrey, Sussex and London; here
as much as 10-15cm- and locally in Surrey 20-30cm-of snow fell, with 33cm of level snow reported at Leatherhead with
major routes affected and lane closures on the M25 and the M20. Major London airports were closed for a period whilst snow
was cleared and rail and road travel badly disrupted with virtually all of London's travel network down. Last night, thundersnow
was also reported from Essex & Kent. Conditions deteriorated again during the late morning and afternoon as another
spell of snow spread north-north west from France, through Kent and the Home Counties, adding another 5-10cm to accumulations
in some of the worst affected areas.
February 5th:
As one of the UK's snowiest periods for two decades continued, disruption continued with 5000 schools closed.
Roads were badly affected and some councils ran out of road salt, warning that shortages were creating
a road safety crisis with the M4, M5 and M1 badly affected. Sadly two walkers died in the freezing conditions in
the Langdale area of the Lake District. Some depths measured officially up to midday Thursday were 20cm over the Cotswolds
and parts of Aberdeenshire, 12cm in parts of the Midlands, 10cm in Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, the Chilterns, the
Bristol area and Antrim in Northern Ireland.
Some councils had just three days' worth of grit left after
supplies were largely used up by the heavy snow that had already fallen. Councils in Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire
and Ceredigion were only salting main routes & some councils were even trying to import salt from abroad. Ambulance
services were overstretched, the Great Western Ambulance Service brought in 4x4 vehicles to try to maintain their services
whilst the East of England Ambulance Service asked people to call 999 only in an emergency.
February 10th: The chilly period across the UK continued with severe cold, heavy snow,
high winds and flooding all on the agenda. Central and eastern Scotland was very cold with -19.4C unofficially reported
on the 9th at Grantown-on-Spey and -18.4C at Aviemore, some of the coldest February temperatures in almost 20 years.
It then fell as low as -15C again on the 10th at Aviemore.
As a deep low developed to the SW of the
UK late on the 9th, fronts moving north across the south brought heavy rain and in the Midlands and East Wales in particular, heavy
snow too as easterly winds developed to its north. The Isles of Scilly reported 62mm up to 21Z on the 9th. At one stage
the Environment Agency had 300 flood warnings in place (mainly across southern England) and 3,000 homes in Gloucestershire,
Worcestershire and Herefordshire were without power. Roads were closed in Oxfordshire, Somerset, Devon,
Cornwall, Hampshire and Sussex. Essex too was affected as the Rivers Chelmer and Can at Chelmsford burst their banks. Strong
winds affected the south coasts too with gusts of 64mph at Newhaven and Portland Harbour reported. The west coast of
Brittany suffered more though, with a gust of 87mph recorded at St Saveur. It became milder after the 14th though
until the months end. February
27th 15.3C was reported at Charlwood in Surrey, and the month
finished near average overall temperature wise across England & Wales after a fortnight when temperatures were 3C
above average.
March 2009
March 4-5th: As a shallow low pressure area moved across the SW overnight on the 4th
March, air and ground temperatures (and air thicknesses) in light winds were low enough to bring sleet initially, that turned
to heavy snowfall and icy conditions that blocked roads and forced schools to close across parts of Devon & Dorset. The
A37 at Wardon Hill near Dorchester was blocked by a number of lorries that became stuck on ice, similarly on the A35, Raymond's
Hill on the Dorset/Devon border was also impassable due to heavy snowfall and around Bere Regis the A35 was blocked by numerous
tree's and branches due to the weight of the snow. Schools were also closed due to the conditions, as local authorities
deployed gritting lorries and snow ploughs.
In Devon, there was about 8cm of lying snow measured around Tiverton
but reports of 10 to 15cms on the hills nearby and as much as 15cm at Barnstaple further north. Again, as the snow was very
'wet' tree damage was much in evidence. 10-15cm was reported around Chard, Tatworth and the Ilminster area in Dorset,
and as much as 18cm near Cerne Abbas. Closer to the coast Poole saw around 8cm of very wet snow which caused flooding and
brought many branches of tree's as well as electricity lines down.
March
20th/21st: A quiet & dry anticyclonic spell of weather developed for some weeks after the snowy
period. As a result some warm maxima were observed along with low minima overnight with some freezing fog around too. After
attaining a station record March high of 18.5C on Friday 20th, temps at Altnaharra (Highlands) fell to -4.5C on the night
of the 20th, giving a diurnal range of 23C. However at Kinbrace (Sutherland) on the 21st it was even colder, with -4.8C reported.
March 28th-29th: some cold air sunk SE across the UK in this period,
giving a short lived wintry snap again. Several areas saw wintry showers on the 28th with snowfall over high ground in
Wales, N England and Scotland. Overnight skies cleared allowing temperatures to plummet in places. A widespread
moderate frost was reported inland and Topcliffe (North Yorks) and Redesdale(Northumberland) fell to -7C. On the
grass it was even colder, with Dishforth (North Yorks) reporting -13C, fairly remarkable for the time of year, given
there was no snow cover.
March 31st: March
was a month of two halves again; a cold wet start then drier and somewhat milder by day after around the first week, and dominated
by high presure. Though it ended just 0.3C above average across England & Wales this belied notable differences and was
partly the result of a period of cold nights due to the anticyclonic conditions with relatively dry ground; the NE of England
was up to 1.5C above average (and parts here were notably dry after the 8th). The cold start saw Bramaer (Aberdeenshire) fall
to -9.6C on the 4th/5th. Temps rose somewhat though during the rest of the month and the highest monthly temperature
of 18.5C was also in Scotland at Altnaharra (Sutherland) on the 20th, even more notable for its daily range of 23.0C (see
below). Rainfall was above average in north & west Scotland but well below elsewhere. In fact parts of the east saw their
5th successive dry month; East Anglia saw less than half of its expected rainfall, exacerbating the increasingly dry ground.
However, the month will probably be best remembered for its large sunshine amounts. Large areas of the UK, except N Ireland
and N Scotland, saw in excess of 150% of the average, parts of the north of England seeing up to 175%. Parts of the southwest
& Channel Isles were especially sunny from midmonth onwards. It was windy initially with 77knts (88mph) reported at Foula
(Shetlands) on the 8th but much less so for the rest of the month
April 2009
April 1st: It was a cold night in the SE to start
April with temperatures well below freezing on the grass inland. In fact at Kenley (Surrey) -6C was recorded and Charlwood
(near Gatwick Airport) reported -5C. Wall to wall sunshine though soon lifted temperatures for most parts in the
south.
April 14th: Some imported thunderstorms moved across
the East Channel this evening from France giving one of the first displays of lightning for those in Kent and parts of
Essex of the year; there was some locally heavy rain and hail mixed in with them too.
April 24th/25th: A rather deep low of 991mb formed overnight NW of Cornwall and brought
very rain, strong winds and thunderstorms with it to the far SW. Slow moving fronts brought as much as 45mm of rainfall at
St Mary's, on the Isles of Scilly in about 6 hours from 6pm and 36mm at St Ives on the mainland. Local flooding was
reported and initially there were thunderstorms too. Sadly a number of people lost their lives as a car was washed away
into a stream near Zennor in severe flash flooding. As the pressure gradient developed exposed parts of the far south
west saw gusts to 62mph at St Ives Coastguard and 60mph at Polruan Coastguard (nr Fowey) on the 25th, St Ives and
Seven Stones lightship reporting a mean wind speed of 50mph at 0300.
May 2009
May 7th- Overnight
a very deep low with central pressure around 969mb about 06Z, swept NW north west of the W Isles bringing a lot of rain
and severe gales. Highest gusts up to 1500, included 73mph at South Uist Range, 71mph at Lerwick and 70mph at Tiree. Parts
of the island of Skye have seen 35mm of rainfall in the last 36 hours.
May
11th- With high pressure to north and low to the south an easterly flow set in but it stayed dry
and sunny. It started cold in Scotland though and Aboyne saw -10C on the grass, very nippy indeed for mid May. However
it was the strong easterly winds that were the main feature in the south, Culdrose & St Just (Cornwall) gusted to
53mph and there was localised minor structural and tree damage in the south.
May
15th- A wet night and day in places. As low pressure dominated heavy rain brought 31mm to Charlwood (nr
Gatwick) overnight before moving north where Bingley (Yorks) saw 22m saw in the 12 hour period to 7pm.Thunderstorms developed
along with heavy showers and along the south coast quite strong SW'ly winds for a time, Newhaven ( East Sussex) reported
gusts to 60mph. However the northeast of Scotland saw strong E'ly winds, Inverbervie on the coast (Aberdeenshire)
saw easterly gusts to 61mph.
May 25th: Although sunny
in places, thunderstorms developed in the south east today, mainly near the coasts from Brighton eastwards, for the
Bank Holiday but it was also warm and muggy. Central London still managed to reach 24C, despite the clouds, some 6-7C
warmer than average.
June 2009
June
3rd: Chivenor (N Devon) saw 26C today and marked a week of temperatures reaching above 25C somewhere across
the UK ee 5thvery day.. and the end of the warm spell for a while as cooler air worked south during the day.
June 5th: As the colder weather moved south, June snow fell in places across the
north. In particular it fell on the Pennines, it was reported at Alston in the NE Pennines, also in
Weardale, Upper Teesdale. Though snow is rare in June there have been a few occurrences; high parts of
the Sussex Downs reputedly reported snow on June 12 1791 but the most memorable snow in living memory was on
June 2 1975, when sleet & snow showers fell in many parts of the country and as far south as Portsmouth. On June 7 1985
too, sleet fell at Birmingham. Later on in the day heavy rain with thunder fell in parts of the Midlands and
Herefordshire; an inch (25mm) fell in an hour at Wigmore (Herefordshire).
June
6th/7th A band of heavy rain became established across south-east Wales, the south and east Midlands and across
to northern England and heavy thunderstorms affected the Exeter area, with 27mm recorded between 08-09Z and 93mm from
07-20Z . Houses were struck by lightning in Exeter and Tiverton and flooding was reported on a number of roads in the
area. Heavy thundery rain also developed across parts of south Wales and the south-west Midlands later on with flooding
in parts of Cardiff and the South Wales valleys.
June 15th
This turned into a very thundery day indeed for many parts as an area of slow moving low pressure sat across eastern
England. Funnel cloud & tornado development was forecast and indeed transpired across many parts with some short-lived
weak tornado's developing too. A list of these with images can be found here on the UK Weatherworld site: http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=30797&start=1 but included sightings at Roston, Herts; Hafren Forest, Mid Wales; in Greater Manchester; near Stansted Airport; Tiverton,
Devon; Mildenhall, Suffolk; Combs Moss, Derbyshire; Rochford, Essex & Maghera, Northern Ireland. Many areas saw
local flooding for a time especially Strood in the Medway, and Ringstead, Hunstanton, Heacham, Watton, & Sedgeford
in Norfolk. Also affected were areas such as Dereham, Hingham, Feltwell, Southery, Brandon, Fakenham and Attleborough.
In Suffolk rail services between Norwich and London were cancelled and Ipswich railway station (Suffolk) was evacuated
as signalling equipment was damaged due to lightning strikes and thousands left without power. Some cars in parts of
Norfolk were abandoned too. Parts of Essex and Suffolk saw more than half the rainfall of an average June in less then five
hours. Ipswich was particularly hard hit with 30mm of rain falling onto the town - the average for June is 52mm.
June 26th More storms developed last night after the warmest day of the
year so far (Heathrow Airport reached 28.0C). As a thundery trough moved slowly north across the south west and southern
coastal areas there was a lot of heavy rain locally, Bournemouth reported 27mm in all. Thunderstorms developed across Northern France and some ran north also, into southern parts. It was a muggy night too & central London
didn't fall below 17C.
June 30th saw the hottest
day of the year so far -and the hottest for nearly 3 years. Wisley (Surrey) saw 31.3C reached as heatwave warnings were widely
issued by the Met Office. Thunderstorms broke out overnight into July 1st with reports of hail and flooding around the Blackpool area along with gusty
winds too. The storms initiated over NE Wales and then ran NNE across coastal NW England. There was a report of
90 flashes per minute occurring on the coast at Fylde; when this occurs the sky literally 'strobes' with lightning
and it is more reminiscent of tropical storms. Two properties in Southport (Lancs) were struck with one strike causing a fire
and eight more fire brigade call outs were received in the area. A house in Bispham, Blackpool was also struck by lightning
causing a roof fire.
July 2009
July 6th-7th Severe storms developed in places
on both days as a thundery low pressure area sat over the eastern UK. Flooding hit parts of Perth and Kinross after heavy
rain storms on the 6th, Tayside Fire and Rescue started to receive calls at about 0930 BST, mainly in the Kinross, Milnathort
and Scone areas. Tyne and Wear Metro services between Kingston Park and Regent Centre were suspended due to flash flooding
too. Early on the 7th Hastings (E Sussex) saw severe storms which led to localised flooding- an unofficial report suggested
as much as 90mm may have fallen in a 3-4 hours from 4am to 7.45am though some areas in Hastings conversely saw hardly
any, a few miles east saw just 5mm. Macclesfield (Cheshire) saw flooding, the local Argos store was closed as a
result, as did Hemel Hempstead (Berks). A lightning strike near Sevenoaks (Kent) caused signalling failure on the main railway
line and in Central London, torrential rain, pea sized hail and thunderstorms closed Victoria Station at the height of afternoon
rush hour on the 7th as well as several major underground stations at Victoria, Westminster & Paddington. Many trains
were delayed out of London in all directions. Brighton (East Sussex) saw six seperate thunderstorms on the 7th, along
with some torrential rain causing localised flooding. A number of funnel clouds were observed too during the day at Loch Levan,
(Tayside) Castleford (W Yorks) and Abersoch (Gywnedd) on the 6th and a possible tornado on the 7th near Ashby (Leics) and
funnel cloud south of Norwich (Norfolk).
July 15th-17th was very
wet with up to 100mm (4 inches) of rain in parts of North East England in a 24 hour period, causing 58 flood
warnings to be issued. Loftus (Northumberland) reported 67mm in 24 hours to 18Z on the 17th. The River Wear rose 6ft in
a short time causing extensiving flooding with corresponding traffic and rail chaos reported. Thunderstorms developed on the 16th as well quite widely but especially in the south & south east. Brighton (E Sussex) for example saw
an impressive gust front pass through about 9pm with winds gusting to 50mph, the visibility down to 800metres in
heavy rain & hail and almost continuous 'strobing' lightning for a time, causing localised flooding .
July 29th : The end of the month was also wet and windy too; Scilly
saw 61mm in the 24 hrs to 21Z on the 29th and Liscombe 53mm as slow moving fronts gave copious amounts of rain in some areas
of central southern England and the Midlands. Capel Curig gusted to 62mph early on the 29th
August
2009
Aug 6th /7th A frontal boundary plagued England all week
& did not finally clear into the continent until early on the 7th Friday. As a major upper trough moved
east it engaged a continental air mass ahead of it consisting of some very warm moist air. It was very
warm or hot ahead of the trough in a few places in the SE for a few days, Gravesend (Kent) reached 28.9C on the 5th and East
Malling (Kent) reaching 29.2C on the 6th. By the late afternoon though some heavy rain moved north and north
east with embedded thunderstorms in it and gave locally torrential downpours over a 12 hour period to some areas in the
south and east. 24 hours totals to 06Z on the 7th included Holbeach (Lincs) 61mm (and 56mm from 18-06Z) , Boscombe
Down (Wilts) 48mm and London Clerkenwell 41mm from 18-06Z.
Aug 19th
saw a very warm day in the south east with 30.3C recorded at Gravesend (Kent), the first -and likely only- day a temperature
above 30C had been reported in the UK this August. It was a different story the following day across Southern Scotland
though, with Eskdalemuir (Dumfries & Galloway) reporting a daily total to 18Z of 65mm. In fact the UKMO was
forced to issue 6 weather warnings for heavy rain across the area in the space of 11 day
Sept
2009
|
