UK seasonal weather summary – Spring 2008

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 254 KB
• Volume: 63
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0043-1656
• DOI: 10.1002/wea.306

✦ Synopsis

Daily mean temperatures for the spring months (March to May) were 0.5 to 1.5 deg C above average across most of the UK. Despite the above-average temperatures, it was not as warm as spring 2007. March and April both had close to average daily maximum, minimum and mean temperatures over the UK. May had mean temperatures generally 2 to 3 deg C above average, but only 1 to 2 deg C above average across eastern parts of Scotland and north-east England. Provisionally, it was the warmest May in the series back to 1914 for the UK, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Spring rainfall ranged from below average across much of Northern Ireland to well above average across southern areas of England and Wales. March and April both had above-average rainfall over the UK, whilst May had below-average rainfall. There were notable rainfall variations during May, being well above average across southern areas of England and Wales (> 200 % in places), but well below average across parts of northern Scotland and Northern Ireland (< 20%). May was provisionally the second-driest May for Northern Ireland in the series back to 1914 (only May 1991 was drier).

Spring sunshine duration was generally above average across the UK and well above average across Northern Ireland and northern areas of Scotland. All three months had above-average sunshine duration over the UK. May saw well-above-average sunshine across the North Scotland climate area, where it was one of the sunniest in the series back to 1929, for both May and spring.