Weather and Climate summaries

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

Those interested in climate change and predictions of future climates should also visit the Climate Change pages.

UK last month

January 2026

It was a cold start to 2026, with below average temperatures across the country for the first week of January as an Arctic airmass approached from the north. The wintry weather brought snow across many parts of the UK but particularly Scotland. Many areas also saw frost, freezing fog, and ice. By the 5^th, evidence was building of an approaching multi-hazard event. This was later named Storm Goretti by Meteo France and brought damaging winds to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly on the 8^th and 9^th, triggering the first red wind warning of 2026. Storm Goretti also brought widespread snow on the northern flank to much of Wales, parts of the West Midlands and the South Pennines. Following Storm Goretti, wet and unsettled weather was the theme for the rest of the month. Scotland experienced heavy rainfall between the 21^st and 24^th, particularly in the southeast. In the south, Storm Ingrid, named by the Portuguese national weather service, brought spells of heavy rain and strong winds on the 24^th. Storm Chandra arrived on the evening of the 26^th and into the 27^th, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the southwest again. Devon and Somerset saw extensive flooding as the rain fell on already saturated ground. The rain then spread northwards, with Northern Ireland experiencing exceptionally heavy rain. The last few days of the month saw continuing wet weather.

The first half of January saw temperatures below average across the UK, with wintry precipitation and ice in many places. However, temperatures soon turned upwards, although there were still some areas around or slightly below average over the second half of the month. Overall, the provisional mean temperature for the UK was 0.5°C below average. Rainfall was above average for the UK, which saw 117% of the long-term average January rainfall, but there was strong regional variation. Southern England, Northern Ireland and eastern Scotland were particularly wet, with Northern Ireland provisionally recording its second wettest January with 195.6mm of rainfall, 170% of the long-term average. Although Scotland overall recorded below average rainfall, eastern Scotland was very wet while western Scotland was much drier. Angus and Aberdeenshire both experienced double the average rainfall in their second and third wettest Januarys on record, respectively. Cornwall provisionally recorded its wettest January with 267.6mm of rainfall. Overall, the UK saw average hours of sunshine, but with some regional variation: Scotland and northern England saw below average sunshine hours.

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: A maximum temperature of 13.6°C was recorded at Bude (Cornwall) on the 11^th and Charlwood (Surrey) on the 18^th. A minimum temperature of -14.7°C was recorded at Tomintoul (Banffshire) on the 8^th and 9^th. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 UTC on the 11^th, 131.6mm of rain fell at Skye Alldearg House. A wind gust of 86 knots (99 mph) was recorded at Scilly St Marys on the 8^th.

Regional values for December 2025