1996
The coldest year recorded- indeed averaged nationally it was a cold year, especially by recent standards. An exceptionally dull January and March, sandwiched between a sunny February, and a very cold first 5 months. The summer was warm and sunny, for the third successive year. A cold, snowy November and December. The first maximum of 20C or above occurred on the unusually late date of 31 May.
Monthly Data
| Year |
Month |
Max temp (°C) |
Min temp (°C) |
Mean temp (°C) |
Highest Max |
Date |
Lowest Min |
Date |
Air frosts |
Total precip (mm) |
% of average sun (est) |
Days of thunder |
Days of sleet or snow |
Days of snow lying |
Days with
fog |
Days with hail |
| 1996 |
1 |
5.8 |
3.0 |
4.4 |
10.6 |
13 |
-1.4 |
26 |
2 |
33 |
20 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| 1996 |
2 |
6.1 |
0.2 |
3.1 |
11.2 |
29 |
-3.7 |
21 |
13 |
67 |
130 |
0 |
10 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
| 1996 |
3 |
5.9 |
2.2 |
4.0 |
9.4 |
1 |
-1.0 |
27 |
4 |
28 |
30 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
| 1996 |
4 |
11.5 |
5.2 |
8.3 |
17.4 |
21 |
-1.2 |
1 |
3 |
41 |
90 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 1996 |
5 |
12.0 |
5.1 |
8.5 |
21.2 |
31 |
0.5 |
4 |
0 |
41 |
120 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| 1996 |
6 |
17.7 |
9.1 |
13.4 |
23.6 |
7 |
5.3 |
23 |
0 |
39 |
130 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 1996 |
7 |
19.5 |
11.2 |
15.4 |
27.1 |
21 |
6.9 |
15 |
0 |
41 |
110 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 1996 |
8 |
20.1 |
11.7 |
15.9 |
29.4 |
18 |
7.0 |
4 |
0 |
57 |
120 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 1996 |
9 |
16.1 |
9.9 |
13.0 |
21.2 |
16 |
4.6 |
14 |
0 |
20 |
90 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 1996 |
10 |
14.6 |
7.8 |
11.2 |
17.9 |
7 |
2.7 |
30 |
0 |
65 |
130 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 1996 |
11 |
8.4 |
2.7 |
5.6 |
17.2 |
2 |
-4.4 |
19 |
11 |
78 |
130 |
0 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| 1996 |
12 |
5.4 |
1.3 |
3.4 |
9.9 |
1 |
-2.3 |
26 |
7 |
43 |
90 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
| 1996 |
Win |
5.6 |
1.1 |
3.4 |
|
|
|
|
29 |
181 |
80 |
0 |
21 |
15 |
3 |
7 |
| 1996 |
Spr |
9.8 |
4.2 |
7.0 |
|
|
|
|
7 |
110 |
90 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
| 1996 |
Sum |
19.1 |
10.7 |
14.9 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
137 |
120 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
| 1996 |
Aut |
13.0 |
6.8 |
9.9 |
|
|
|
|
11 |
163 |
110 |
0 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
| 1996 |
Year |
11.9 |
5.8 |
8.9 |
|
|
|
|
40 |
553 |
105 |
7 |
34 |
14 |
7 |
27 |
Daily data can be accessed here.
Winter 1995/96: At just 3.4C, the coldest winter recorded, and also the snowiest winter quarter. Due to the exceptionally dull January, it was rather dull overall.
January: Exceptionally dull- many parts of the region had less than 10 hours of bright sunshine in the entire month! Mild southerly winds persisted during the first half, but cold easterly and south-easterly winds prevailed in the second half. A brief cold snap from the 25th to 27th, with sunshine and snow showers on the 26th and more prolonged snow on the 27th, though this turned to sleet by evening. At the time, this month set a new record high average minimum and low average maximum, consistent with the marked sunshine deficit. Despite the lack of sun, it was a dry month, though easily surpassed by January 1997.
February: Cold, sunny and wet, one of the classic winter months of the post-1987 era, though not as cold as February 1994. It started with a cloudy wintry spell from the 5th to 8th, though there wasn't much snow on this side of the Pennines. Another notable cold snap 19th-21st, with heavy prolonged snow showers on the 19th in particular.
Spring 1996: Dull, dry and cold, with the lack of sunshine illustrated by the fact that the average minimum was similar to that of Spring 1995, but the average maximum was 2C lower. The coldest spring recorded, at 7.0C. However, May, though outstandingly cold, was reasonably sunny.
March: Another exceptionally dull month, with persistent south-easterly winds. Snow from the 12th-14th, though only slight accumulations. It brightened up with northerly winds and wintry showers during the last week. The coldest March recorded, entirely due to the low average maximum, some 3C below normal!
April: Like April 1993, quite a warm April but mainly because of high overnight minima. It started cold and reasonably sunny, but south-easterly winds prevailed again for a while afterwards, bringing lots of cloud. A westerly-dominated second half with more reasonable sunshine amounts- and the 20th was notably warm and humid with southerly winds.
May: Exceptionally cold- at 8.5C, easily the coldest May recorded, and not significantly warmer than April had been. Northerly and north-easterly winds dominated the remarkably cold first two-thirds, with mostly cold, dry weather. The final third had westerly winds, near-average temperatures, and a mix of sun and showers.
Summer 1996: Another warm, sunny summer- indeed I enjoyed this summer even more than Summer 1995, because of the extra variety that it offered. All three months had settled spells in the middle, and unsettled, showery spells near the beginning and end.
June: Dry and sunny, with average temperatures. The first third was generally sunny, sometimes with showers. Warm humid southerly incursion on the 6th/7th, with thunderstorms late on the 6th, and torrential rainstorms late on the 7th. A settled spell midmonth with plenty of sunshine, a spell of cooler, showery northerlies from 18th to 21st, then another settled spell. The last few days were cool and cloudy again, however.
July: The first week was dominated by sun and showers, the showers heavy at times with hail and thunder, then it quietened down. Warm, sunny third week, which got hot and thundery towards the end with 27C reached. A rather disappointing cool cloudy spell from the 24th onwards meant that temperatures and sunshine were only a little above average.
August: Warm and sunny with some convective storms early and late. The first third began with some warm sunny days, but it turned cloudy and humid with some rainstorms from the 6th to 10th. Warm and sunny midmonth, followed by a notable heatwave with 29C reached on the 18th. Sunshine and showers dominated proceedings from the 23rd onwards.
Autumn 1996: About average.
September: Dry and cloudy and boring with frequent easterly winds- one of the driest Septembers recorded (the others being 1997 and 2004). A reasonably warm sunny third week. The run of cool Septembers continued.
October: Warm, sunny and unsettled, though not as warm as October 1995. Frequent westerly and south-westerly winds, with a couple of notably warm southerly incursions around the 11th and the 23rd. Sunshine and showers often the dominant weather type. A severe gale on the 29th.
November: Cold, sunny and wet- though nothing like as cold as November 1993. It started cloudy and very mild, but after that, northerly and north-westerly winds prevailed. Snowy interlude from the 20th to 24th, with accumulations of snow on the evening of the 20th, sticking around for a few days, though much of it had melted by the 23rd.
December: Another cold December, but less so than December 1995. Unsettled start, dull cool anticyclonic spell in the second week, cloudy mild third week, then a spell of moderately cold easterlies from the 20th to 25th, with bright showery weather alternating with dry cloudy weather. A two-minute flurry of wet snow on Christmas evening made it a technical "white Christmas", but not a white Christmas by any common-sense definition. Snow accumulated briefly overnight 26th/27th, then after a less cold interlude, renewed easterly winds brought sunshine and heavy snow showers on the last two days.
Overall, at 8.9C, the coldest year recorded, and it was also the dullest since 1993. Overall about as snowy as 1995 was, with the record highest frequency of hail (27 days). Until 2003 this was the driest year recorded, but 2003, 2006 and 2007 all exceeded it for dryness.
