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

April 2022

The weather during the early part of April was rather unsettled, especially during the 3rd-6th. The first ten days were also rather cold, although it became warmer than average through the middle part of the month. Towards mid-month it became more settled generally, with high pressure in charge for much of the rest of the month, though much of the final week was rather cooler. Clear skies ensured that sunshine totals were above average in many areas, but there were more air frosts than average.

The provisional UK mean temperature was 8.1 °C, which is 0.2 °C above the 1991-2020 long-term average. Maximum temperature anomalies were around +1 °C in parts of England, Wales and western Scotland, while minimum temperatures were slightly below average for some areas. Most areas had less rainfall than average, the exceptions being much of northern Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland, and there was less than half the average rainfall for much of England, indeed less than a quarter of average in some eastern parts. The UK overall had 68% of average rainfall. Sunshine was above average in many areas, most especially parts of eastern England, with an overall figure of 107% of average.

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: A maximum temperature of 23.4 °C was recorded at St James’s Park (London) on the 15th. A minimum temperature of -8.0 °C was recorded at Tulloch Bridge (Inverness-shire) on the 1st. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 UTC on the 4th, 62.4 mm of rain fell at Achfary (Sutherland). A wind gust of 65 knots (75 mph) was recorded at Needles (Isle of Wight) on the 7th. A snow-depth of 10 cm was measured at Redesdale Camp (Northumberland) on the 1st.

Regional values for April 2022