May | 2018 | Wanstead Meteo

I took the following shots during a flight from Geneva to London on the morning of Thursday, April 19th – the hottest April day for at least 60 years.

Weather conditions on the BA CitiFlyer service to London City were virtually cloud free all the way thanks to a large anticyclone stationed almost slap bang over central Europe.

It was hard to stop looking out the window of the Embraer 190 from the moment we started our climb above the shores of Lac Léman, the Jet d’Eau the first landmark to become easily visible.

The rest of the flight offered a procession of chances to ‘guess the place’ as we crossed France, the Channel, and Kent before making our descent as we reached suburban south-east London.

Before take-off the pilot mentioned our final approach would offer a very close up view of The Shard and the event didn’t disappoint. It felt we were only metres above the 1,000ft high pinnacle, the spectacle drawing gasps from passengers sitting behind me; it was very reminiscent of the final approach to the old Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong.

Disembarking brought a further treat as I walked out into the unprecedented April heat, the 29.1C reached that day made it the hottest April day for at least 60 years.

taxiing geneva — One of the met enclosures at Genève Aéroport with the hills of the Jura in the background.

geneva fouintain — Lac Leman, Geneva, with the Jet d’Eau clearly visible

lac leman — As we climbed higher the Portes du Soleil mountains could be seen in the distance with the Mont Blanc Massif beyond

le gris nez — Le Gris Nez and Wissant on the coast of Pas de Calais, with the port in the background

calais — Whitstable, Kent, just to the east of where the UK’s hottest temperature was recorded at Faversham

elmley — The Elmley National Nature Reserve on the Isle of Sheppey with Minster-on-Sea in the background

medway — The mouth of the Medway with the Isle of Grain on the left and Sheerness and Queenborough on the right

The London Gateway ‘superport’ with Canvey Island just to the right and Southend in the distance

tilbury — The port of Tilbury, Essex, on the north bank of the Thames with Gravesend on the other side

QE2 bridge — The Queen Elizabeth II bridge

dome — The 02 / Millennium Dome with Canary Wharf to the left

ruskin park — Ruskin Park, Denmark Hill, with Canary Wharf in the distance

shard — The Shard and London Bridge station. The aircraft is now very low and we feel very close to the building’s 1,000ft high pinnacle. Passengers behind me gasp and I am reminded of the final approach into Hong Kong’s old Kai Tak airport

canary close — Canary Wharf again but this time we’re a lot closer

I normally headline these monthly reviews by referring to the most notable weather but this April, often a fairly non-descript mid-spring affair, offered pretty much every type of weather.

The mean temperature finished 11.7C, 1.9C above average and the warmest for four years.

Rainfall was 55mm, 129 per cent of average and the wettest for 6 years.

Sunshine was just 110 hours, the dullest for 40 years and the 16th dullest since 1881.

Hidden in the positive monthly anomaly was the warmest April day in a local record going back to 1959: 29.1C on the 19th – a figure that represents a positive anomaly of 15.5C and occurring at the start of the warmest April heatwave since 2011. It was remarkable that such an anomaly happened so close to a record negative anomaly the previous month.

Yet, just over a week later, temperatures lurched cold again with one of coldest last days of April on record. Though the 24hr record wasn’t broken the noon-6pm record going back 60 years was beaten.

The wettest day occurred on the 9th with 10mm falling.

Air frosts: 0, Ground frosts: 1