Weather in October

Most of October was warmer than average, although the second week was cooler, and the last ten days were especially mild relative to average, with a notable lack of frosts. At the same time, the month was predominantly unsettled in most regions, with no dry spells longer than a couple of days. Sunshine was above average for most of the country, especially central and eastern areas.

The provisional UK mean temperature was 11.5°C, which is 1.8°C above the long-term average. Maximum temperatures were almost 3°C above average in parts of south-east England, while minimum temperatures were furthest above average in central Scotland. Provisionally this was the seventh warmest October in a series from 1884. Rainfall was broadly near or above average but it was dry in many east-coast locations and parts of Northern Ireland were much wetter than average. As a whole, the UK had 115% of average rainfall. October was a sunnier than average month for most of England, parts of Wales and the east coast of Scotland, but rather dull over western Scotland, with an overall sunshine figure of 114% of average.

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: a maximum temperature of 22.9°C was recorded at Kew Gardens, Greater London, on the 29th; a minimum temperature of -3.8°C was recorded at Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, on the 15th; in the 24 hours ending 9 am UTC on the 5th, 102.6 mm of rain fell at Honister Pass, Cumbria; a wind gust of 96 knots (110 mph) was recorded at The Needles, Isle of Wight, late on the 31st.