Methods and Analysis

Generation of monthly and annual long-term averages

Monthly and annual long-term average data sets of 13 climate variables were generated for the periods 1961-90 and 1971-2000 using a consistent analysis method. Values were produced for each station in the Met Office's observing network and for a 1 x 1 km grid of points covering the UK.

Download a description of the analysis methods used to generate long term-averages. This paper was published in the International Journal of Climatology v.25 (2005), pages 1023-1039.

Development of a new set of long-term averages for the UK

Generation of monthly and annual gridded data sets

Monthly 5 x 5 km gridded data sets covering the UK have been been produced from 1910 for air temperature and rainfall amount, from 1929 for sunshine duration, and monthly and annual gridded data sets from the 1960s for around 30 other climatic parameters. The same analysis methods are employed in the production of monthly and seasonal summaries.

Download a description of the methods used to create gridded data sets from point data. This paper was published in the International Journal of Climatology v.25 (2005), pages 1041-1054.

Generation of monthly gridded data sets for a range of climatic variables over the UK

A number of the climate variables have been produced with funding from Defra, and are freely available for research purposes.

Climate trends

The monthly and annual gridded data sets have been analysed to investigate trends in the UK climate since 1914 (or 1961 for some variables).

Download A spatial analysis of trends in the UK climate since 1914 using gridded datasets

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