Winter 2010/2011: Cold and dry - as forecast!
After a record breaking December, a mild February has meant that winter 2010/2011 across the UK as a whole has ended up only 15th coldest since UK figures started in 1910.
Provisional UK data for winter 2010/2011 shows a mean of 2.39C, compared to the 1971-2000 average of 3.7C.
How does that compare with recent winters?
Last winter was much colder, with a mean temperature of 1.64C, the coldest since 1978/79.
2010/2011 was though colder than 1995/1996, which had a mean of 2.53C, but was not as cold as the winter of 1985/86 which had a mean temperature of 2.29C.
Based on the Central England Temperature data set (CET), the winter mean temperature was 3.13C, compared to the 1961-1990 average of 4.06C.
This has made it only the 112th coldest winter since CET records began in 1659.
It was also a dry winter.
Across the UK, 259mm of rainfall was recorded, 78% of the average. For the North of England, 233mm was recorded, 89% of average.
This all ties in very well with winter projections made back in early October, which you can see from my article: Winter 2010/2011 - cold and dry?
Later today the first estimate for global temperatures for February will be released which I will write about tomorrow.
Hello, I’m Paul Hudson, weather presenter and climate correspondent for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Look North in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. I've been interested in the weather and climate for as long as I can remember, and worked as a forecaster with the Met Office for more than ten years locally and at the international unit before joining the Ö÷²¥´óÐã in October 2007. Here I divide my time between forecasting and reporting on stories about climate change and its implications for people's everyday lives.
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