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.

Maps, graphs and data

State of the UK Climate report

UK last month

May 2019

May began with shallow low pressure and weak fronts, bringing rather cloudy and showery weather to most parts. A northerly outbreak on the 3rd/4th brought widespread frosts, and wintry showers penetrated locally to low levels in some northern and eastern regions. Cloudy and unsettled weather persisted until the 9th, but then high pressure built close to the country bringing generally warm, dry and sunny weather around mid-month. The weather remained fairly quiet until the 24th, but generally cooler, with more in the way of rain or showers. It turned changeable from the 25th onwards but the last two days were very warm in the south and east.

The provisional UK mean temperature was 10.0 °C, which is 0.3 °C below the 1981-2010 long-term average, but it was not as cool as May 2015. Mean maximum temperatures were mostly close to normal but were more than 0.5 °C below in some western areas and in northern Scotland. Mean minimum temperatures were mostly about 0.5 °C below normal. Rainfall was 93% of average overall, and it was a dry month in Wales and southern England, but there was more than twice the normal rainfall in parts of north-east Scotland. Sunshine was 101% of average, and it was a rather cloudy month over much of Scotland and Northern Ireland but over much of England and south Wales it was a little sunnier than average.

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: A maximum temperature of 25.8 °C was recorded at Kinlochewe (Ross & Cromarty) on the 15th. A minimum temperature of -6.2 °C was recorded at Kinbrace (Sutherland) on the 7th. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 GMT on the 10th, 38.6 mm of rain fell at Trassey (County Down). A wind gust of 48 knots (55 mph) was recorded at Needles (Isle of Wight) on the 8th.

Regional Values for May 2019