The following represents an assessment of the weather experienced across the UK during Winter 2012/2013 (December 2012 to February 2013) and how it compares with the 1981 to 2010 average.
The mean temperature over the UK for winter was 3.3 °C which is 0.4 °C below the long term average. December was equal to the long term average for the month, January was 0.3 °C below, February was 0.9 °C below and at 2.8 °C was the coldest month of the season. Spells of notably mild weather occurred in late December and early January, and notably cold weather in early December, mid to late January, and the latter part of February.
Winter overall for the UK was marginally wetter than the long term average with 106%, although much of Highland Scotland was drier than average. It was the wettest December since 1999 with 149% of long term average rain; considerable disruption from flooding events occurred in the run-up to Christmas. January was slightly drier than average for the UK as a whole (91%), with a few localised exceptions in some coastal areas and Northern Ireland. February was also dry (68%). There was a period of widespread snowfall across much of the country from mid to late January as frontal systems hit colder air, causing considerable disruption. This was followed by a rapid thaw in the last few days of the month; snowmelt and further rain resulting in some further localised flooding. Further snow events in February were generally short-lived.
December (113%) and February (108%) were generally sunny months for the UK as a whole. January was generally dull across most of the country (77%). Although southern England was rather dull in February, in Scotland it was among the sunniest in the series.
|UK statistical summary|
|The mean value is 3.3 °C, which is 0.4 °C below the 1981-2010 average.||The total is 350 mm, which is 106% of the 1981-2010 average.||The total is 158 hours, which is exactly 100% of the 1981-2010 average.|
Last updated: 10 December 2013