Climate summaries

Overview of weather across the UK for previous months, seasons and years

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UK last month

March 2024

March overall was unsettled, wet and dull. The month began colder than normal across the UK, with temperatures across the UK cooler than average and southern areas recording notably low daily minimum temperatures (for instance, Benson in Oxfordshire recorded -4.6°C on the 3rd). Snow fell on the 2nd across parts of south west England, causing some travel disruption. However, the cool weather was replaced with milder weather for much of the rest of the month, with temperatures widely into the mid to high teens at times (for instance, a maximum of 18.8°C was recorded at Charlwood, Surrey on the 20th). Temperatures dipped again towards the end of the month, and on the 27th/28th, some areas around Plymouth and Dartmoor experienced snowy conditions overnight. Overall the weather was unsettled, with a succession of frontal systems bringing rain and wind. By mid-month, several counties including London and Kent had already provisionally experienced their whole-month average rainfall, and continued to be soaked throughout the rest of the month. The month ended on an unsettled note, with widespread showers and strong winds across the UK.

Overall, the provisional mean temperature for the UK was 6.7°C, 1.0°C above average. Southern England was much milder than areas further north, with a provisional mean temperature of 8.2°C (anomaly of 1.4°C) for southern England and 5.0°C (anomaly of 0.6°C) for Scotland. England provisionally recorded the seventh-warmest March on record in a series from 1884. The UK overall recorded provisionally 127% of the long term average rainfall for March, with much of this concentrated in the south. England and Wales both recorded more than 150% of their long term average monthly rainfall, while Scotland recorded just 90% of the average March rainfall. County Down in Northern Ireland provisionally experienced its third wettest March on record (145.9mm) in a series from 1836. As well as wet, the month was also dull, with the UK provisionally recording just 95.2 hours of sunshine (87% of the long term average).

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: A maximum temperature of 18.8°C was recorded at Charlwood (Surrey) on the 20th. A minimum temperature of -6.9°C was recorded at Altnaharra (Sutherland) on the 26th. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 UTC on the 14th, 94.4mm of rain fell at Capel Curig (Gwynedd). A wind gust of 70 knots (81 mph) was recorded at Wight Needles on the 1st and 28th. A snow depth of 12cm was recorded at Lough Navar (Fermanagh) at 0900 UTC on the 1st.

Regional values for March 2024