2007
Another exceptionally warm year- fractionally warmer than 2006. In contrast to 2006, it was the first 5 months that were exceptionally warm, and subsequently temperatures were generally close to the long-term average. The winter was exceptionally mild, and April, in particular, was insanely warm. Summer 2007 was a notoriously poor one, but mainly owing to an abysmal June. Sunshine was above average again overall, less so than in 2006. Another year largely devoid of frost and snow, and the second consecutive very dry year.
Despite the exceptional warmth, there was no day with a maximum of 24C or above, for the first time since 1993.
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 |
| 2007 |
1 |
9.9 |
4.1 |
7.0 |
13.7 |
12 |
-0.3 |
17,23 |
2 |
49 |
180 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| 2007 |
2 |
8.8 |
3.1 |
5.9 |
12.8 |
1 |
-2.6 |
6 |
6 |
40 |
120 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| 2007 |
3 |
10.1 |
4.2 |
7.2 |
13.7 |
11 |
-2.0 |
2 |
2 |
27 |
120 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| 2007 |
4 |
15.3 |
6.8 |
11.0 |
21.4 |
24 |
0.6 |
4 |
0 |
10 |
140 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 2007 |
5 |
15.2 |
8.3 |
11.8 |
19.6 |
24 |
4.5 |
21 |
0 |
38 |
100 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 2007 |
6 |
16.6 |
11.0 |
13.8 |
22.4 |
20 |
7.3 |
28 |
0 |
98 |
60 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
| 2007 |
7 |
19.1 |
12.1 |
15.6 |
22.5 |
31 |
8.2 |
10 |
0 |
86 |
100 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 2007 |
8 |
19.2 |
11.8 |
15.5 |
23.8 |
24 |
7.8 |
9 |
0 |
39 |
120 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2007 |
9 |
17.4 |
10.2 |
13.8 |
22.7 |
5 |
3.6 |
18 |
0 |
26 |
110 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2007 |
10 |
14.5 |
6.9 |
10.7 |
19.0 |
11 |
0.5 |
24 |
0 |
14 |
120 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2007 |
11 |
10.8 |
4.9 |
7.8 |
17.3 |
2 |
-2.1 |
24 |
1 |
30 |
110 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 2007 |
12 |
7.5 |
2.1 |
4.8 |
14.2 |
4 |
-2.7 |
17 |
8 |
34 |
100 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2007 |
Win |
9.0 |
3.5 |
6.2 |
|
|
|
|
14 |
143 |
150 |
0 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
| 2007 |
Spr |
13.5 |
6.4 |
10.0 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
75 |
120 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
| 2007 |
Sum |
18.3 |
11.6 |
15.0 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
223 |
90 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
| 2007 |
Aut |
14.2 |
7.3 |
10.8 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
70 |
110 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 2007 |
Year |
13.7 |
7.1 |
10.4 |
|
|
|
|
19 |
491 |
110 |
11 |
16 |
4 |
7 |
11 |
Daily data can be accessed here.
Winter 2006/07: Exceptionally mild- the mildest since 1997/98. However, a couple of short-lived northerlies, one in January and one in February, brought a little snow.
January: At 7.0C, easily the warmest January recorded. Temperatures were consistently in double figures during the exceptional first half. It turned colder at times in the second half, with some hail and sleet about towards the end of the third week. High sea-surface temperatures moderated the northerly blast on the 22nd-25th, which struggled to provide a dusting early on the 23rd. Sunshine was exceptionally above average. The month nearly passed by without air frosts- the last air frost free January probably occurred way back in 1989.
February: Cold, bright start. The first week was very sunny, and there was some snow overnight 6th/7th, though most of it melted during the day. Some wintry showers on the 8th-10th also, but whenever the wind picked up off the sea, the temperature jumped to around 5C, a consequence of the high SSTs resulting from the abnormally warm second half of 2006. The rest of the month was mostly dull and mild with southerly and south-westerly winds, but the sunny first week helped raise sunshine a little above average. The warmest February since 2002.
Spring 2007: At 10.0C, outstandingly warm, and by far the warmest recorded, and the driest as well. April 2007 was as remarkable for the time of year as July 2006 had been.
March: Mostly warm, sunny first half with westerly winds. Cold snap from the 18th to 21st, and the 20th featured the most significant snow event of the "winter", with a notably low maximum of 3.8C. Dry, cloudy weather during the last week. Overall the driest, warmest and sunniest March since 2003.
April: Insanely warm- at 11.0C, almost a full 2C warmer than the next warmest April. The first half was consistently dry and sunny, with warm days partly offset by cold nights. The temperature reached 18.8C on the 4th, and 20.3C on the 15th. The second half was rather cloudier, but was even warmer than the first half because the nights were as anomalously warm as the days. It was certainly an outstanding month for weather, but in the context of the ridiculously warm preceding 10-month period, something didn't seem right.
May: Dry, cloudy start, then a mostly unsettled month followed. Sunshine and showers in the second week, dull wet third week, sunshine and showers again at the end, with a couple of thunderstorms. The average maximum was actually 0.1C short of the average for April, even though the month as a whole was warm, and the warmest since 2004.
Summer 2007: Overall dull and wet with average temperatures- the joint coolest, along with 2001, since 2000. A very dull wet June- duller even than June 1997- but July had near average sunshine, and August was rather sunny. Late June and early July were notable for high thunder frequency, unusually for this part of the country. It was the wettest summer since 2004.
June: The first 19 days were almost relentlessly dull, with low cloud from the North Sea, and low maximum temperatures. The weather was often bright and showery from the 20th onwards, enabling sunshine to at least exceed half the long-term average. Three thunder-days out of four on the 20th, 21st and 23rd, very unusual for the north-east coast. However, the 22nd had thunderstorms across the rest of the region, and stayed dry along a narrow strip of the east coast- there was even sea fog late in the day, casting back memories of the localised non-thunderstorm of 21 August 2000. The coolest June since 2001, the wettest since 1997, and the dullest for at least two decades.
July: All of the first four days had thunder- it's unusual to get four thunder-days in a month on the north-east coast, let alone on the trot! A mostly changeable, unsettled, wet month, but with close to average temperatures and sunshine amounts, in contrast to most other areas of Britain which had a cold cloudy month. More thunderstorms on the 17th. Dull and cold and wet around the 21st, but bright showery end, and a warm sunny day on the 31st. It was the wettest July recorded, and the coolest since 2004.
August: Quite an uneventful month. The first half was often sunny and warm, the third week was cold and cloudy, and the last week was cool and showery with variable cloud cover, though warm around the 24th. Temperatures were again about average, making it the coolest August, remarkably, since 1999.
Autumn 2007: Slightly above average temperature, nothing like as warm as Autumn 2006- and by far the driest recorded, with high pressure dominant. The coolest since 2004. Sunshine was above average, though not remarkably so.
September: Dry, settled, with high pressure, variable cloud cover, and average sunshine. Temperatures were mostly slightly above normal, but there were two potent northerlies, one on the 3rd and another on the 17th/18th, giving notably low minima. Thus, it ended up the coolest September since 2004.
October: Anticyclonic, sunny at times, particularly in the first week and around the 17th-24th. The dry, sunny nature of the month was reflected by the contrast between a high average maximum, and a rather low average minimum (the lowest since the very cold October 2003). Daily temperatures were mostly above average, but the period 17-25 October was on the cool side.
November: Another warm November, due to an exceptionally warm first week, when the mean temperature was several degrees above the long-term average. The rest of the month was near average to rather cool with frequent northerlies, which gave rise to a little sleet on the 12th- the earliest occurrence of sleet/snow since 2001. There was some wet snow on the 23rd from another northerly. Dry and sunny overall.
December: This looked certain to be the warmest December recorded after the very mild first third, but a long, cold anticyclonic spell ensued. Sunshine was quite abundant during the unsettled first third, but the anticyclonic spell was mostly gloomy, with very little sun. Quite mild unsettled last week, though it was cold and sunny on Christmas Day. Average temperatures and sunshine, and it was yet another dry month.
Overall, at 10.4C, the warmest year recorded, emphasising the climatic warming trend. The frequency of frost was also the record lowest, although it was not quite as snowless as 2002. Thunder frequency was the highest since 1999, due to the exceptional concentration of storms in late June and early July.
