Just how bad is the weather?

The British people are obsessed with the weather, or so you would think if you read the newspapers or social media. The Brits, it would seem, always look at the worst of the weather, but few ever examine the facts before making rash comments. This is also the case for many users of Facebook and Twitter.

In my news feed, I have read ‘friends’ saying that the brief spell of fine weather we had over the May Day Weekend was all we are going to get this ‘summer’. Meteorologically speaking, summer hasn’t even started yet. We have to wait until June 1st for that.

Sheltering at Portrush Typical British weather! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So, is the weather this year worse than usual? Well, if you look at the average monthly temperatures recorded at my weather station during its four years of operation, 2013 has started off colder than normal. Every month so far this year has seen temperatures below the average.

Rainfall, too, has been below average. Last night’s rainfall took the yearly total to almost 125 millimetres, which is over 30 millimetres less than we would expect by mid-May. Only March has recorded above average rainfall this year.

You don’t have to go back far to find similar May weather to 2013. May 2010 was also a cold month with the average for the month just 10.6°C. The average for May 2013 is currently standing at 10.0°C, with the warmest part of the month still to come. You would expect May 2013 to be warmer than May 2010.

To sum up then, 2013 so far has been on the cold side, but May is showing signs of bringing some sort of normality to the weather. Despite what you read in the press, we aren’t heading for a new Ice Age, there isn’t going to be a drought and you won’t need to build an ark.

Related articles

• Could the British weather be getting wetter? (itv.com)
• Weather brings flooding and snow to parts of Wales as signs of summer retreat (walesonline.co.uk)
• Forecasters warn of half a month’s rainfall in a single day as wet weather looks set to persist (independent.co.uk)
• Britain gets ready for driest May on record (express.co.uk)