February weather

February overall was milder and drier than average, with high pressure influencing the weather for much of the time. It was unsettled initially, and again for a time from mid-month, but the month was remarkable for its dryness, this being provisionally the UK’S driest February since 1993. It was also a mild month, especially further north, despite colder spells from 5th to 9th and from the 23rd onwards.

Mean temperatures for this month were well above average, with a provisional UK mean temperature of 5.8°C, some 1.7°C above the 1991 to 2020 average. Scotland and Northern Ireland were mildest relative to average. Rainfall was well below average generally, with less than 20% of average over most of central and southern England as well as eastern parts of Wales, though much of north-west Scotland was near or slighly wetter than average. The UK had 45% of average rainfall for the month. It was a sunnier than average month for central and eastern England, but rather dull for most of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the UK as a whole having 98% of average.

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: a maximum temperature of 17.2°C was recorded at Pershore, Worcestershire, on the 17th; a minimum temperature of -8.5°C was recorded at Tulloch Bridge, Inverness-shire, on the 27th; in the 24 hours ending at 0900 UTC on the 3rd, 45.6 mm of rain fell at Cassley, Sutherland; wind gusts of 72 knots (83 mph) were recorded at Baltasound, Shetland, on the 3rd and at Inverbervie, Kincardineshire, on the 17th; and snow-depths of 1 cm were measured at Oyne, Aberdeenshire, and Fettercairn, Kincardineshire on the 18th.