WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!
12 months ago, we were in grip of Beast from the East. Now, after hottest February day ever...
WHEN the Beast from the East hit last February, it felt the winter would never end.
Homes suffered power cuts, schools were closed and there was chaos on the transport network – all thanks to bitter winds from Siberia.
But just look at us now. Yesterday Britain basked in its warmest winter’s day on record as temperatures peaked at over 20C (68F).
With many places leaving southern Europe in the shade, Trawsgoed in the Welsh county of Ceredigion hit 20.3C (68.5F), with another reading nearby reaching 20.1C (68.1F).
The previous high was 19.7C (67.4F), at London’s Royal Observatory in Greenwich in February 1998. England’s highest temperature yesterday was 18.6C (65.4F) at Hampton Waterworks in west London – hotter than the Algarve, where it was 18C ( 64.4F). Malaga and Rome only managed a paltry 15C (59F).
The contrast could not have been more marked with this time last year when the Beast from the East blew in. This year, however, beaches and parks have been extra busy as sunseekers took full advantage of the winter respite. Met Office forecaster Luke Miall said: ‘This is the warmest February day for the UK as a whole and the first time we’ve had 20C in winter, the season being December, January and February.
‘The reason we’ve got this exceptionally warm weather is all down to a block weather pattern. This is dragging up warm air from the Canary Islands and southern Spain.’
Conditions in Wales are being supercharged by a phenomenon known as the ‘Foehn Effect’, where moist air dries out as it hits hills or mountains, allowing temperatures to rise further as the air comes down the other side. The mild conditions will continue today, when south- east England could also see temperatures of 20C (68F). But tomorrow will start to see a change, with a resumption of more normal temperatures.
The expected drop will put a question mark over whether this month will go down as the warmest on record.