Past weather events

Extremes of temperature New
Late March to early April
The UK experienced a brief spell of unusual warmth at the end of March, with temperatures reaching 24°C, followed by a cold plunge of Arctic Maritime air in early April bringing widespread hard frosts and some snow ...

Snow and low temperatures including storm Darcy
7 to 13 February
The UK experienced a spell of bitterly cold east winds bringing low temperatures and lying snow to many eastern areas. Temperatures fell below -20°C at three stations in Scotland with the UK's lowest temperature since December 1995 ...

Storm Christoph
18 to 20 January
Storm Christoph brought some exceptionally wet weather to North Wales and northern England, with some areas receiving around the January whole-month long-term average rainfall ...

Storm Bella
26 to 27 December
Storm Bella was a large, deep area of low pressure in the North Atlantic bringing heavy rain and strong winds across the UK ...

Storm Aiden
31 October
Storm Aiden was part of a spell of turbulent, wet and windy weather to affect the UK from late October to early November ...

Storm Alex and heavy rain
2 to 4 October
Storm Alex brought strong winds to the southern half of the UK, while 3 October 2020 was the wettest day on record since 1891 for UK-wide rainfall with average rainfall of 31.7mm across the entire UK ...

Storms Ellen and Francis
19 to 21 August; 25 August
Storms Ellen and Francis were two of the most notable August storms in the UK in the last 50 years, with gusts of 50 to 60Kt in exposed coastal locations ...

Extreme rainfall, Norfolk New
16 August
Thunderstorms affected parts of East Anglia on 16th August. A rain-gauge in East Wretham, Norfolk recorded a remarkable daily total of 239.9mm ...

Thunderstorms north-east Scotland
11 to 12 August
North-east Scotland experienced thunderstorms and torrential downpours bringing 30 to 50mm or more of rain in 3 hours or less, causing flash-flooding ...

Southern England heatwave
Early August
Temperatures exceeded 34 °C across  parts of the south-east for six consecutive days and there were several 'tropical nights' with the overnight temperature remaining above 20 °C ...

Exceptionally hot day
31 July
The temperature reached 37.8 °C at Heathrow making this the UK's third hottest day on record ...

Storm Jorge
28 February to 1 March
Storm Jorge brought further strong winds and heavy rain in late-February. Jorge was less severe than storms Ciara or Dennis but the additional rain exacerbated flooding problems ...

Storm Dennis
15 to 16 February
Heavy rain from storm Dennis caused widespread flooding. 50 to 100mm of rain fell across western upland parts of the UK and the Met Office issued a Red Warning for parts of south Wales.

Storm Ciara
8 to 9 February
Strong winds and heavy rain from Ciara, one of the most powerful storms of the last few years, brought widespread disruption across the UK. West Yorkshire was among the areas worst affected by flooding.

Storms Atiyah and Brendan
8 to 9 December 2019; 13 to 14 January 2020
Storm Atiyah brought strong winds to Wales and south-west England, while storm Brendan was a deep Atlantic low pressure system bringing strong winds and heavy rain across the UK.

Record-breaking temperature
28 December
18.7 °C was recorded at Achfary (Sutherland), the UK's highest December temperature on record.

Severe flooding South Yorkshire
7 November
Severe flooding affected parts of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire after a whole month's average rain fell in 24 hours.

Strong winds
2 November
An area of low pressure brought very strong winds to south Wales and the south coast with a gust of 95 Kt (109 mph) at Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight.

Persistent wet weather
Late October
A slow moving front brought persistent heavy rain across parts of England and Wales.

Wet weather spell and Storm Lorenzo
Late September to early October
A spell of wet weather during late September was followed by Storm Lorenzo on 3 October.

Torrential downpours
30 to 31 July
Parts of North Yorkshire, south Manchester and the Pennines experienced flash-flooding following torrential downpours with some locations recording 40 to 60mm of rain in one hour.

Record-breaking heatwave
July 2019
On 25 July, 38.7 °C at Cambridge Botanic Garden set a new UK temperature record.

Heavy rainfall
June 2019
The UK experienced a spell of very wet weather in mid-June. Parts of Lincolnshire received 2.5 times the monthly average rainfall in 3 days.

Storm Hannah
26 to 27 April
Storm Hannah was one of the most significant April storms in the last 50 years, with exposed locations in west Wales recording gusts of over 60 Kt (69 mph).

Storm Gareth
10 to 16 March
The UK experienced a turbulent week of very wet and windy weather including storm Gareth.

Storm Freya
3 to 4 March
Storm Freya brought strong winds and heavy rain to England, Wales and southern Scotland.

Exceptional warmth
21 to 27 February
The UK experienced some exceptionally high temperatures for the time of year with 21.2 °C at Kew Gardens (London) on 26 February the highest temperature on record for a winter month.

Storm Erik
8 to 9 February
Storm Erik was a deep Atlantic low pressure system bringing strong winds to the UK. Much of the country recorded gusts over 50mph (58Kt).

Storm Deirdre
15 to 16 December
Storm Deirdre brought strong winds and freezing rain to western and northern parts of the UK...

Storm Callum
11 to 13 October
Storm Callum brought strong winds and persistent heavy rain to western parts of the UK, with south Wales particularly badly affected by flooding...

Storms Ali and Bronagh
19 to 21 September
Storm Ali brought very strong winds and heavy rain to Scotland and Northern Ireland, followed by storm Bronagh which brought very heavy rain to England and Wales...

Summer 2018
Summer
Summer 2018 brought plenty of warm, dry, sunny weather with the UK often under the influence of high pressure...

Storm Hector
14 June
Storm Hector brought some unseasonably strong winds to the UK. The strongest winds were across Northern Ireland, North Wales, northern England and southern Scotland...

Hot spell
18 to 22 April
The UK experienced some unusually high temperatures for the time of year with high pressure over the near continent drawing very warm air from the south...

Snow and low temperatures
Late February to early March
The UK experienced a spell of severe winter weather with very low temperatures and significant snowfalls from late February to early March 2018...

Ex-Hurricane Ophelia
October
On 16 October Ex-Hurricane Ophelia brought very strong winds to the west of the UK and Ireland. This date fell on the exact 30th anniversary of the Great Storm of 1987...

Hot, sunny spell
June
A spell of hot, sunny weather from 17 to 21 June led to the UK's highest June temperature since 1976...

Strong winds and heavy rain from storm Angus
November
The first named storm of the 2016-2017 season brought some damaging winds to the south coast, accompanied by heavy rain causing flooding mainly across parts of south-west England...

Exceptional warmth, September 2016
September
A  brief heatwave from 12 to 15 September brought some exceptionally high temperatures accompanied by flash-flooding...

Flooding in Cumbria December 2015
December
Persistent heavy rainfall from storm Desmond on 4 to 6 December led to widespread flooding in Cumbria and across other parts of northern Britain...

Heatwave 1 July 2015
1 July
The UK experienced a 1-day heatwave as hot air moved north from Spain, setting a new July temperature record...

Winter storms, January to February 2014
Late January to mid-February
From late January to mid-February, a sequence of major winter storms again affected the UK, causing widespread impacts and major flooding problems...

Winter storms, December 2013 to January 2014
December to early January 2014
From mid-December to early January, the UK experienced a spell of extreme weather as a succession of major winter storms brought widespread impacts...

Autumn storm, October 2013
28 October
A powerful autumn storm brought damaging winds across much of southern England on 28 October 2013...

Hot dry spell July 2013
July
From 3 to 23 July 2013 the UK experienced a spell of hot, sunny weather with an area of high pressure established across the UK...

Snow and low temperatures late March 2013
Late March to early April
A spell of severe winter weather brought significant snowfalls and unseasonably low temperatures to many parts of the UK from late March to early April 2013...