April showers bring spring flowers… so the saying goes though a look at local east London stats shows that eight of the last 12 Aprils have been drier than average, some remarkably so.
I’ve put together a few top 10s of stats for Wanstead, St James’s Park and Heathrow for the month of April.
Probably most notable from the below values is that 5 of the top 7 maxima were recorded during a warm spell in 2011.
Frosts can be common and are often sharp, playing havoc with budding plants
Snow can fall in April – a good few inches fell early in the month in 2008 – though any accumulation is usually short lived.
Rain – the characteristic April showers – is usually most frequent at the end of the month.
The chart slideshow below show the synoptic situation which brought a notable warm spell in the second half of April 2011.
Some UK April values according to TORRO
Hottest: 16th 1949: 29.4C at Camden Square, London.
Coldest: 2nd 1917: -15C at Newton Rigg, Cumbria
Wettest: 22nd 1970: 182.1mm at Seathwaite, Cumbria
In terms of climatology April maxima, considering the 1981-2010 average, shows a gradual increase through the month, though around the 21st there is often a jump of 3-4C, the start of a warm spell before rain arrives at month’s end.
The average rainfall graphic reflects this, showing a three-day drier spell after the 20th.
Wanstead Meteo 