February weather

February was a mild but wet month with generally unsettled weather. A cold spell pushed into the north of the UK from the 6th onwards, with temperatures reaching 4.0 to 6.0°C below average in some areas of Scotland and northern England on the 7th and 8th. The south of England, however, experienced consistently mild temperatures throughout this cold spell, leading to a large temperature gradient across the UK. Mild temperatures in southern England persisted throughout the month up until the 24th, when temperatures dipped to just below average for a few days. The overall mild temperatures in February were also accompanied by extensive precipitation. By mid-month, some areas in the south of England had already seen the whole-month average rainfall, with several stations experiencing new record daily rainfalls. Widespread snow hit northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland on the 7th and 8th, leading to school closures and travel disruption. On the 22nd, a band of heavy rain moved east across south and central UK, leading to extensive flooding. Overall, temperatures for the month were warmer than average, especially across England. The UK overall was provisionally 2.2°C warmer than average, making this the second warmest February in the series from 1884 behind 1998. It was the warmest February on record for England and Wales. February was a very wet month across the southern half of the UK which received more than twice the average rainfall widely, for some locations more than three times. Southern England recorded 239 per cent of average and here it was the wettest February on record. East Anglia recorded both its warmest and its wettest February on record. It was a fairly dull month for most of the UK (79 per cent of the average sunshine hours). The UK monthly extremes were as follows: A maximum temperature of 18.1°C was recorded at Teddington (Middlesex) and Pershore (Hereford & Worcester) on the 15th. A minimum temperature of -13.8°C was recorded at Altnaharra (Sutherland) on the 8th. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 UTC on the 18th, 86.9mm of rain fell at White Barrow (Devon). A wind gust of 63 knots (72 mph) was recorded at Capel Curig (Gwynedd) on the 21st. A snow depth of 15cm was recorded at Kirkwall (Orkney) at 0900 UTC on the 7th.