February was second sunniest on record... despite the blizzards
BRITAIN enjoyed its second sunniest February on record – despite the recent cold snap, provisional figures reveal.
Despite deadly blizzards that left the country snowbound and freezing, a total of 95.6 hours of sunshine were measured across the UK last month, according to the Met Office.
That is more than any February since records began in 1929, except for February 2008.
Western parts of the country fared best of all, with only the coast of Yorkshire experiencing less than the full month average.
The cold snap at the end of February helped drive down the average temperature for the month to 2.4C (36.3F), the lowest February average since 2010 (1.9C).
The average UK temperature for February has dipped below 2.5C just four times in the past 25 years.
You need to go back to 1986 to find a February cold enough for the average temperature to be below freezing, when temperatures plunged to -1.2C.
The average minimum temperature in February 2018 is estimated to have been -0.6C, the lowest for the month since 2010. The lowest ever was recorded in 1947, when the average was -4.2C.
The news comes as thousands of homes are still without water following the “Beast from the East” snow storm.
As many as 12,000 people still remain without running water due to burst pipes caused by last week’s freezing temperatures.
South East Water have been working to locate and fix damaged pipes all across their network and managed to restore supplies to 8,700 residents on Monday night by finding leaks.
But residents in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire all remained without water yesterday.
A spokesman for South East Water said: “Not all areas are affected equally. We are putting as much extra water as we can into our local networks and fixing leaks and bursts as quickly as possible.”