2000
Another fairly warm year, but at 9.7C, the coolest since 1996. The year was outstandingly wet, especially in the autumn, but despite the rain, sunshine was well up to the average. The first four months showed broad similarities with 1998, with a warm January, February and March, followed by a fairly cold, extremely wet April.
Monthly Data
| Year |
Date |
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 |
| 2000 |
1 |
7.5 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
10.2 |
31 |
-1.2 |
26 |
3 |
44 |
160 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2000 |
2 |
8.7 |
3.0 |
5.8 |
12.2 |
4 |
-3.7 |
17 |
4 |
44 |
160 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| 2000 |
3 |
11.2 |
4.7 |
7.9 |
16.1 |
20 |
-2.0 |
3 |
3 |
21 |
120 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 2000 |
4 |
10.8 |
4.3 |
7.6 |
16.5 |
20 |
-1.9 |
15 |
4 |
115 |
90 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 2000 |
5 |
14.9 |
7.4 |
11.1 |
23.8 |
15 |
2.9 |
28 |
0 |
77 |
100 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 2000 |
6 |
17.1 |
10.4 |
13.7 |
26.0 |
19 |
6.6 |
7 |
0 |
71 |
90 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2000 |
7 |
17.4 |
11.2 |
14.3 |
23.0 |
28 |
4.9 |
7 |
0 |
52 |
80 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 2000 |
8 |
19.8 |
11.7 |
15.8 |
25.4 |
12 |
7.5 |
21 |
0 |
54 |
120 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 2000 |
9 |
16.9 |
10.4 |
13.6 |
20.2 |
23 |
5.2 |
4 |
0 |
79 |
80 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2000 |
10 |
12.9 |
6.7 |
9.8 |
16.9 |
3 |
0.4 |
31 |
0 |
120 |
120 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2000 |
11 |
9.0 |
4.1 |
6.5 |
13.5 |
29 |
0.4 |
21 |
0 |
121 |
130 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2000 |
12 |
7.5 |
3.6 |
5.5 |
13.6 |
5 |
-6.5 |
27 |
9 |
63 |
130 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
| 2000 |
Win |
7.6 |
2.3 |
4.9 |
|
|
|
|
16 |
144 |
170 |
1 |
14 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| 2000 |
Spr |
12.3 |
5.5 |
8.9 |
|
|
|
|
7 |
213 |
100 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
| 2000 |
Sum |
18.1 |
11.1 |
14.6 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
177 |
100 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| 2000 |
Aut |
12.9 |
7.1 |
10.0 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
320 |
100 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2000 |
Year |
12.8 |
6.7 |
9.7 |
|
|
|
|
23 |
861 |
105 |
9 |
16 |
6 |
2 |
6 |
Daily data can be accessed here.
Winter 1999/2000: An exceptionally sunny winter, as was the case over much of the country. Ironically, while it was slightly less mild than Winter 1998/99, there was markedly less snow about, with only one significant accumulation of snow in the whole season, making it the most snowless winter recorded for days of snow lying.
January: An uneventful month, overall dry, sunny and quite warm. The first 10 days were mostly mild and unsettled, with some warm sunny springlike conditions at the beginning. There was a long anticyclonic spell in the middle, with variable cloud cover- some days were dull while others were sunny. A half-hearted northerly on the 22nd brought wet snow showers. A severe gale on the 29th, as more unsettled weather returned. The... ahem, least warm January since 1997.
February: Mild and unsettled with westerly winds, and near average rainfall. The first week was very dull with drizzle, but the remainder of the month featured many sunny days. A brief cold snap on the 16th/17th- although it was not especially cold, there was a heavy snowstorm on the 16th, during which temperatures dropped low enough for extensive accumulations, and the only significant snow event of season 1999/2000.
Spring 2000: Quite warm again (8.9C) but the coolest since 1996. The third wet spring in a row.
March: Dry and mild. A cold sunny start, with sunshine and snow showers on the 1st and 3rd, but no accumulations. The weather was mostly dry, cloudy and mild with anticyclonic gloom during the middle fortnight, but it was very sunny from the 18th to 20th, with a maximum of 16C. Also an outstanding minimum of 12.8C on the 7th/8th. The weather became sunny again around the 25th, but the month ended dull and dry. Overall, although most days were dry and cloudy, the sunny weather during the first few days and the 18th-20th was enough to raise sunshine totals above average across the region. The warmest, driest and sunniest since 1997.
April: Very wet again, though slightly less so than April 1998. Cold start, with sleet and snow on the 3rd, and snow showers on the 4th. A settled spell after that, but it became dull and wet towards midmonth, and cold. Very traditional weather from the 18th to 24th, with sunshine and showers and warm temperatures, thanks to mainly southerly winds, but it became dull and wet again from the 25th. The coolest April since 1994. However, as with the wet April 1998, sunshine was only slightly below normal, less so than in Aprils 1993 and 1996.
May: Dull, dry, warm first half with frequent easterly winds and a lot of low cloud off the North Sea. Sunshine and showers dominated during a fairly cool, north-westerly dominated second half, with thunder at times, and large hail provided a temporary covering on the 18th. Overall another fairly warm May, but the coolest since 1997, and the wettest since 1993.
Summer 2000: Statistically similar to the rather disappointing summer of 1998. A cloudy June and an abysmal cold cloudy July, but a warm sunny August partly made up for it.
June: Very cold wet start, with a maximum of only 9.9C on the 3rd, and 37mm (more than half the normal for the whole of June) on the 4th. The rest of the month was often dry and cloudy, but there was a very warm, sunny third week, with southerlies bringing temperatures of up to 26C. A quite dramatic day of sunshine and showers on the 22nd, then the dry, cloudy weather returned. Due to warm nights, it was the warmest June since 1994, though temperatures were still only around average.
July: The coldest July recorded, with the average maximum (17.4) more typical of the average June. Dull, damp first half with a lot of low cloud. The second half was warmer and sunnier, but cool, cloudy weather was again prevalent from the 22nd to 25th. It reached 23C on a humid showery day on the 28th.
August: A mixed first half, with a fairly sunny first week, but quite a cloudy, humid second week. The second half was mostly sunny, with some warm days and some cool nights, and a few convective storms. However, on the 21st, while the rest of Britain had dramatic thunderstorms, we 'escaped' with sea fog. It was the warmest August since 1997, and probably the sunniest since 1996.
Autumn 2000: Outstandingly wet, with close to average temperature. September was very dull, but October and November were reasonably sunny.
September: The coolest since 1997, with temperatures about average. It was mostly dull and wet, the wettest since 1995. A significant thunderstorm on the 11th but obscured by sea fog. Warm around the 23rd, with southerly winds.
October: Exceptionally wet- the wettest October recorded- but also quite sunny. Thunder was reported on a showery day on the 5th, unusual for October. It was particularly wet around the 11th and again around the 30th. Snow fell inland on the 30th, but with a slight drift off the warm North Sea, near the coast we just had rain at 3C. Temperatures were consistently near or below average, and as a result it was quite a cool month.
November: Very wet but quite sunny, with average temperatures. Very wet from the 5th to 7th. Temperatures were consistently near or below average until the 25th, whereupon it became very mild. It was the wettest November only since 1995, but there was just 2mm in it.
December: The third month in a row to have both rainfall and sunshine above average, though it was nothing like as wet as the previous two months. Very mild, wet, cloudy first half, with southerly winds, followed by a dry cloudy spell leading up to Christmas. Cold, sunny weather arrived on Christmas Eve and persisted to the month's end. No white Christmas, but there was snow on Boxing Day, and more significant snow on the 28th/29th. Heavy snow showers were accompanied by thunder at 4:50am on the 29th. Probably the most significant cold snowy spell in the area since late December 1995.
Overall, at 9.7C, not as warm as the past three years, but still quite warm (the long-term mean is nearer 9C). It looked set to be an exceptionally snowless year, but the snowy end of December prevented this from being the case. Only 6 days with hail, and only 23 air frosts, so another year devoid of much wintry elements. At 861mm, comfortably the wettest year recorded.
