Ne’er cast a clout till May is out. With the recent March and April weather being so variable it would be wise to bear in mind this old saying, especially with fine and warm weather forecast for the Bank Holiday weekend.
A look at local east London stats, however, shows that seven of the last 10 Mays have been warmer and drier than average.
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 recent Mays have been devoid of extreme cool temperatures and rainfall.
With nights now relatively short air frosts are uncommon though the odd ground frost can still strike on a clear night.
Snow can fall in May – one example being 1979 in the higher parts of the capital – but after the first week it is extremely rare.
Rain is usually most frequent in the last week of the month.
Some UK May values according to TORRO
Hottest: 22nd 1922: 32.8C at Camden Square, London.
Coldest: 2nd 1917: -9.4C at Lynford, Norfolk
Wettest: 8th 1884: 172.2 at Seathwaite, Cumbria
In terms of climatology May maxima, considering the 1981-2010 average, shows a gradual increase through the month, though around the 25th there is often a brief dip before a warm end.
The average rainfall graphic reflects this, showing a three-day wetter spell after the 24th.
Wanstead Meteo 
4 thoughts on “London’s May extremes since 1959”