Our recent extreme weather

The location of the British Isles, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Arctic to the north and the land mass of Europe to the south and east, means our weather is affected by a wide range of factors. Additional influences are the Gulf Stream and the high-atmosphere Jet Stream. With more energy in the systems that drive all these factors, the UK is becoming more prone to extreme weather events, according to the Met Office, and as a result many records are being broken.

The highest daytime maximum temperature on record (38.5°C at Brogdale in Kent on 10 August 2003) during the hottest summer for 500 years across parts of Europe. Last year saw the hottest July day ever recorded – 38.1°C in Cambridge on 24 July 2019.

The coldest December temperatures for at least 100 years in 2010, when temperatures regularly fell to between -10°C and -20°C over night.

The wettest UK summer in 2012 for 100 years, with many parts of the UK having more than double their average rainfall, leading to widespread flooding.

The wettest winter since UK records began in 1910 was experienced in 2013/14, while in England and Wales it was the wettest winter since 1766, with extensive river and tidal flooding.

Last year saw the UK’s highest December daytime maximum temperature at Achfary, in the far north of Scotland, where it reached 18.7°C, due to a very mild southerly airflow across the West Highlands.

So far in 2020 we’ve seen Storm Ciara, during which Amber Warnings were issued for both strong winds and heavy rain. Over a month’s rain fell across areas of West Yorkshire in just 18 hours, with several hundred properties flooded. This was followed a week later by Storm Dennis, which brought slow-moving heavy rainfall. Parts of Wales and western England received up to 100mm of rain on already saturated ground. The Met Office issued a Red Warning for parts of South Wales, where there was widespread flooding.

The winter of 2019/20 looks set to be one of the wettest on record, with continued rainfall in western parts of the UK from October through to March.