March weather

The month began with an exceptionally cold easterly flow and widespread snow and daytime temperatures remained below freezing in many parts of the country. It turned milder from the south during the first week and until mid-march the weather was generally wet and cloudy for most, with low pressure dominant, but north-western areas remained drier.

A second cold easterly outbreak brought widespread snow on the 17th and 18th, though this was not as severe as at the beginning of the

Rainfall was 110pc of average and some places, notably Devon, the Midlands and some eastern coastal counties, had more than twice the normal amount. In contrast, Cumbria and western Scotland to the north of the Central Lowlands, were much drier than average. Sunshine was 83pc of average, with most of England, Wales and eastern Scotland being dull, but most areas bordering the Irish Sea had near average sunshine. The Western Isles had a sunny March.

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: a maximum temperature of 16.6 °C was recorded at Colwyn Bay, Clwyd, on the 10th and a minimum temperature of -10.7 °C was recorded at Cawdor Castle, Nairnshire, on the 1st; in the 24 hours ending at 9 am on the 15th, 70.6 mm of rain fell at Trassey Slievenaman, County Down; wind gusts of 73 knots (84 mph) were recorded at Warcop, Cumbria, on the 2nd and 17th; and a snow depth of 57 cm was recorded at Little Rissington, Gloucestershire, on the 4th.