Climate summaries

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

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UK last month

January 2021

The first ten days of January were generally cold, with wintry showers in places in the first week and more general precipitation on the 7th and 8th. It turned milder and wetter in the south from the 10th, but colder air persisted at times in the north, resulting in some snow at the frontal boundary. Storm Christoph brought very wet and windy weather between the 19th and 21st, with many stations having over 100 mm of rain. It was colder from the 22nd to 25th with snow in places, mainly in the west and the Midlands. From the 26th it turned mild and wet in the south, but remained generally cold in Scotland.

The provisional UK mean temperature was 2.2 °C, which is 1.5 °C below the 1981-2010 long-term average, making it the coldest January since 2010. Both mean maximum and minimum temperatures were between 2.0 and 2.5 °C below average over much of Scotland, but less than 1.0 °C below in southern England and in Wales, and between 1.0 and 2.0 °C below in most other areas. Rainfall was 113% of average, and some parts of north-west and north-east England, the east Midlands and the south-east had over twice the normal amount, but it was drier than average over much of central and western Scotland. Sunshine was 95% of average, but with a marked contrast between below-average sunshine over most of England and Wales, and well-above-average sunshine in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: A maximum temperature of 14.2 °C was recorded at Pershore College (Hereford & Worcester) on the 28th. Minimum temperatures of -13.0 °C were recorded at Dawyck Botanic Garden (Peeblesshire) on the 9th and at Braemar (Aberdeenshire) on the 31st. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 GMT on the 20th, 132.8 mm of rain fell at Honister Pass (Cumbria). Wind gusts of 60 knots (69 mph) were recorded at South Uist (Western Isles) on the 15th and at Marham (Norfolk) on the 21st. A snow depth of 32 cm was recorded at Trassey Slievenaman (County Down) on the 25th.

Regional values for January 2021