RECORD SUNSHINE
This April was sunnier than ever before
APRIL 2020 was the sunniest on record for the UK.
The latest Met figures show there were 225 hours of sunshine recorded in April this year. That figure is the highest seen for the month since at least 1929, when records began.
April 2015 - when there were 212 hours of sunshine - was the second-sunniest year, followed by 1942, when the sun shone for 205 hours.
The Isle of Wight saw more sunshine than any other local area, with 279 hours of sunshine logged this April.
However, Rutland in the East Midlands saw the biggest improvement when compared to the average April.
The area saw 172% more sunshine than the long-term average recorded between 1981 and 2010 - nearly three times as much.
Not only was April very sunny, it was also very warm and dry.
Daytime temperatures were also higher than normal, and, with an average of 9.1°C, it was the fifth warmest April on record.
That’s behind only (10.7°C), 2007 (10.2°C), (9.2°C) and 1943 (9.1°C).
The daily maximum temperatures in Oxfordshire and Berkshire were 3.9 °C above the long-term average, with many areas in southern England and Wales seeing temperatures more than 3.0 °C above average.
Figures also show last month there was an average of just 29mm of rainfall across the UK.
That was only 40% of the long 2011 2014 term average rainfall level usually seen in April.
It was particularly dry along the north east coast, with just an average of 2.4 mm of rain recorded for Tyne and Wear, just 5% of normal.
A number of counties in north east England and eastern Scotland recorded their driest April on record.
Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre, said: “Although April 2020 will be remembered for being the sunniest April on record in England and the UK, along with the sunshine, the month was largely dry with mean temperatures well above average for most parts of the UK.
“The UK climate is warming, and it is notable that in a Met Office series from 1884 the Aprils of 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2020 are all in the top ten warmest.”