[Ian Williams]

Have had 8 daily records broken in the last 10 days including equalling my all time highest March temp, on the 25th i hit 17.6C which equals that of the 30th in 2003. Talking of 2003 around 5 of those records broken were from 2003, wouldnt mind if our weather pattern followed that lovely hot summer of 2003, coincidence - probably ........... [dunno]

Altogether out of a possible 62 daily records for March, 13 were broken, 3 for coldest mins, 9 for warmest maxes, and one for warmest minimum.

[Dave K]

The usual compilation of records for the month from http://www.metoffice...te/uk/extremes/ up for discussion and debate...

[Ian Williams]

Here are my updated temperature and rainfall records for March

uploads/monthly_03_2012/post-30656-0-04903100-1330958119_thumb.gifuploads/monthly_03_2012/post-30656-0-55837400-1330958123_thumb.gif

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[HSEA2]

That Mepal Record is new to me...i thought 25.0c at Santon Downham or Cromer was the record.

Maybe UKMO are dusting off the old paper records and will find a few old 'new' records, a bit like the NZ met service found with that -25.6c at Ranfurly that exceeded all the other records.

[Ian Williams]

HSEA2, on 05 March 2012 - 14:50, said:

That Mepal Record is new to me...i thought 25.0c at Santon Downham or Cromer was the record.

Maybe UKMO are dusting off the old paper records and will find a few old 'new' records, a bit like the NZ met service found with that -25.6c at Ranfurly that exceeded all the other records.

I see they have updated their extremes because they have Gravesends October record in 2011 in there.The Mepal record seems a long time to be verified, some 44 years! lol


http://www.metoffice...maximum_england

[BUTTERFLY]

Strange that the Mepal, Cambridgeshire, figure of 25.6 deg. C. on 29th March 1968 has taken so long to come to light; it is fractionally above 78 deg. F..

Ballykelly, Co. Londonderry, in Northern Ireland, normally noted more for relatively high maximum temperatures in winter or autumn, though less so in summer, apparently recorded 5 deg. F. (c. -15 deg. C.) in early March 1947 (this was published in the Monthly Weather Report for March 1947, to the nearest whole degree Fahrenheit). This is more or less equivalent to the Katesbridge figure in March 2001. Otherwise, I know of no March temperatures below -10 deg. C. in Northern Ireland, and they are also pretty rare in February (having been recorded in 1895 and 1969, but I suspect in at least 1 or 2 others, e.g. 1947). In November, the only such instances I know of is on 14th November 1919 when -12.2 deg. C. was recorded at Lisburn, Co. Antrim.

March has the greatest overall range of temperature in Britain in a month, varying 48.4 deg. C. from -22.8 deg. C. in 1958 to +25.6 deg. C. in 1968, and also has the greatest range in an individual month, 46.7 deg. C. from -21.7 deg. C. to +25.0 deg. C. in March 1965, although the accuracy of the latter figure has been questioned, and it is possible that the correct figure was more like 22-23 deg. C. Even this would give a range of 43.7-44.7 deg. C. or so and I do not know if this has been recorded in any other individual month, though it is theoretically possible given the overall range of temperatures which have occurred in them; however higher overall ranges have only occurred from November to April inclusive. It is paradoxical that while on average the daily range is higher in summer than winter, the highest overall ranges have all occurred in the colder month, with July's total range of 38.9 deg. C., from -3.3 deg. C. to +35.6 deg. C., being the smallest, and March's at 47.8 deg. C. being the highest. For this to be exceeded by one of the other months, one would probably have to have a substantially lower minimum, e.g. lower than -28.1 deg. C. in February; although this is 0.9 deg. C. lower than the current British February minimum record of -27.2 deg. C., which occurred in 1895 (since when the closest approach in February has been -25 deg. C. in 1955) on the whole this seems slightly more likely than an increase of 0.9 deg. in the February maximum record of 19.7 deg. C. (in 1998). For December and January, whose maxima and minima are both +18.3 deg. C. (in December 1948, Janaury 1958, 1971 and 2003)and -27.2 deg. C. (in December 1995 and January 1982)a fall in the minima to around -30 deg. C. seems slighly more likely than an increase in the maximum to about +20 deg. C.!

The reason for the highest range being in March may be due to the fact that the sun is getting higher and the days are longer, so that if there are calm sunny conditions with a wind from the south, etc, temperatures can rise significantly higher than in mid-winter (c. 7 deg. C. higher than in December or January and about 6 deg. C. higher than February; even the latter is higher than the rise in extreme maxima from any other month to the next, the next highest being 3.8 deg. C. from March to April). The fact that the ground can on occasion be quote dry (as February can be quite a dry month, as for example in parts of Eastern England this year, where less than 10 mm was recorded in 1 or 2 places), can contribute to this, along with drying winds (even if these are cold). The highest March temperatures have generally been in lowland Eastern England, e.g. East Anglia/Cambridgshire (Santon Downham/Mepal), or Yorkshire (Wakefield/Whitby)where the soils are probably lighter, which also will make for higher temperature.

However the sea is still pretty cold in March and the Arctic and Polar Regions still very cold, and substantial snowfalls can still occur given the right conditions; as the nights are still long enough for a large fall of temperature to take place, very cold nights are still frequent. All this makes for potentially large ranges in a month. In the autumn, however, the seas are much warmer and one would not expect much if any snow or ice over the Continent (certainly not in September); ground is perhaps likely to be often damper as even August can be fairly wet. In September the overall range is 42.3 deg. C. from -6.7 deg. C. to +35.6 deg. C., but even temperatures of 30 deg. C. are less frequent than they used to be 50 or so years ago despite a general warming in September. October very seldom records snow on low ground; its range is 41.6 deg. C. from -11.7 deg. C. to +29.9 deg. C. Examples of large ranges in individual autumn months are September 1919 (it reached 32.2 deg. C. at Raunds on 11th, but presumably fell to below 0 deg. C. in places around 19th-20th as snow was recorded as low as 800 feet above sea level as far south as Dartmoor, perhaps giving a range of 35 deg. C. or more - see http://www.personal...._in_septemb.htm) and October 1926, when it varied 34.0 deg. C., from -10.5 deg. C. at Braemar on 27th to +23.5 deg. C. at Worksop on 4th - see http://www.personal...._in_october.htm

[Dave K]

Would have thought this still needed ratification, but it is being reported on the Beeb already

Quote

Spring sunshine sets Scottish temperature record for March

25 March 2012. Last updated at 17:02

Fyvie Castle, in Aberdeenshire, recorded a temperature of 22.8C shortly after 15:30, edging past the previous high of 22.2C.

This had been set in March 1957 at Gordon Castle, in Moray, and again at Strachan, in Kincardineshire, in 1965.

Forecasters said the top temperature for Sunday could still rise higher and could be reached again on Monday.


http://www.bbc.co.uk...etland-17506257

[Dave K]

It seems, subject to ratification, that the record March high temperature set on the 25th at Fyvie Castle has lasted just a single day with Aboyne logging 22.9 °C today according to a UKMO twitter post.

[Dave W]

Set 'em up to knock them down, eh?!

[Dave K]

Quote

Scotland broke its March maximum temperature record yesterday [ 26th March]. A maximum temperature of 23.2C was recorded at Cromdale in Moray on Monday afternoon. This is higher than the 22.9C at Aboyne quoted yesterday and could be revised as further observations are received. Issued at 1024 on Tue 27 Mar 2012.

UKMO

[John Robert Mellor]

I hit 20°C yesterday which is my highest March temperature since my recent records began in 2006. Previous March record was last year when I recorded 18.1 on 31st March

This post has been edited by John Robert Mellor: 27 March 2012 - 10:20

[Dave K]

Today is a new record site high for the 27th March, the 5th day out of 7 that the daily record has gone ( and the record for the 1st also went this year). Tomorrow a little more tricky though.

Day	Avg Max	High Max	Year
21	11.5	17.3	2012
22	12.1	18.6	2011
23	12.2	20.9	2012
24	12.1	20.0	2012
25	11.8	18.7	2011
26	11.7	19.5	2012
27	11.7	19.3	2012
28	12.0	20.0	1989

[Dave K]

Quote

March temperature record broken again in Scotland.
Scotland has broken its March maximum temperature record again, with a temperature of 23.6C seen at Aboyne at 15:40 this afternoon [27th March]. This beats the previous record of 23.2C at Cromdale in Moray on Monday afternoon. Northern Ireland fell just short of beating its March maximum temperature record though. Giants Causeway reached 21.4C, just shy of the existing record of 21.7C at Armagh in 1965. Please note that these temperatures could be revised as further observations are received. Issued at 1753 on Tue 27 Mar 2012.

UKMO.

[Dave K]

March 2012 at my site broke 10 daily records - all for highest maxima including the alltime March high.

[Dave K]

March 2012: As good a place as any I suppose for this...

Quote

Last month was the third warmest March on record - outshone only by 1938 and 1959 - the Met Office has said.

It had an average temperature of 7.7C, compared with March 1938, which had an average of 8C. It was also the fifth driest and third sunniest March.

March saw a total precipitation of 36.4mm of rain and 156.5 hours of sunshine across the month.

Records for temperature and rainfall began in 1910, while the measurements for sunshine began in 1929.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17595024

[Dave K]

An update of the UK records for temperature extremes in the month of March as at http://www.metoffice...imate-extremes/

The one change is a new Scottish high maximum from 2012.

[Ian Williams]

Here are my updated March records, forgot to post them last year 2012 saw my warmest ever March record broken with 21.4C on the 29th

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This post has been edited by Ian Williams: 05 March 2013 - 01:19

[Ian Williams]

Looking at my March records I think theres more than a good chance of my all time lowest Max temp of 3.4C set in 2001, will be broken on Monday or Tuesday. The lowest minimum of -4.0C set in 2005 maybe a little harder to budge, but not impossible