Did you REALLY mind being indoors in storm-battered, snowy, sun-starved January?
What a month! Weatherman Phil Morrish looks at one for the record books
IF you thought January was dull, cold and wet you were right: it was the coldest January in Leicestershire for 11 years.
Afternoon temperatures averaged 5.4C, nearly 2C below normal, with night temperatures averaging just a little above freezing at 0.4C, more than 1C below normal.
I recorded 15 air frosts, the most in any month since March 2013. The overall mean temperature of 2.9C was 1.7C below normal and the coldest in January since 2010.
As we all noticed, it was also extremely wet! Rain fell on 23 days in the month as areas of low pressure dominated. In Mountsorrel, I recorded 130mm of rain, my highest total since January 2014.
This meant it was the second-wettest January in the Leicestershire records going back to 1836.
With just 34 hours of sun recorded at my station, it was the dullest January in my record since the year 2000.
The general weather pattern in January saw low pressure approach the country from the south west.
The jet stream was further south than normal, running across France for periods of time, and this put us on the colder side of the jet on its northern side.
As a result, maritime air that had originally come from the North Pole spent more time over us than usual, with the much milder south-westerly winds staying to the south of the UK much more frequently than is normally the case.
As a result, our weather was colder and damper than usual with snowflakes falling on 12 days of the month, the most days since 2013.
There were frequent battles between cold air that lay to our NE and warmer SW winds that managed to reach southern counties of England but struggled to push north. This provided the recipe for a lot of rain and some snow. The first ten days of the month were mostly cold with snow showers and frosts. Daytime temperatures averaged just 3C.
It then turned milder and wetter with 40mm falling between the January 11 and 14, caused extensive river flooding in the usual locations around the River Soar.
The following week saw the arrival of Storm Christoph, with winds of up to 40mph and 35mm of rain in four days. This time the floods were more widespread and severe, with brooks and waterways flooding as well as the main rivers.
As Christoph pulled away, a cold Arctic airmass spread southwards with temperatures on the January 24 staying at freezing point all day.
A weather front moved in from the west and ran into the cold air. A very heavy snowfall was the result this time with 10cm-15cm falling over much of the county in six hours.
The weather front stalled over the north of the county, causing heavier more sustained snowfalls which disrupted travel, particularly in the north around Loughborough and Melton, where 15cm fell. This was the heaviest snow to fall in the county since March 2013.
That night saw temperatures under the deep snow cover fall to -7.6C in Mountsorrel, my coldest night of the month and indeed my coldest since February 2012.
The sun made welcome appearances on January 22 and 25, which both saw six hours, but 13 days saw no sun at all and my sunshine total was the lowest in January since my records began.
As we go into February the patterns of colder then milder conditions look set to continue. Have a great weekend.
The sun made welcome appearances on January 22 and 25, which both saw six hours, but 13 days saw no sun at all.