Provisional full-month Met Office figures for March confirm it has been an exceptionally cold month, with a UK mean temperature of 2.2 °C.
This is 3.3 °C below the 1981-2010 long-term average for the month, and ranks this March as joint second coldest (with 1947) in our records dating back to 1910. Only March 1962 was colder, with a record-breaking month mean temperature of 1.9 °C.
In an unusual turn of events, this March was also colder than the preceding winter months of December (3.8 °C), January (3.3 °C) and February (2.8 °C). This last happened in 1975.
Looking at individual countries, the mean temperature for England for March was 2.6 °C – making it the second coldest on record, with only 1962 being colder (2.3 °C). In Wales, the mean temperature was 2.4 °C which also ranks it as the second coldest recorded – with only 1962 registering a lower temperature (2.1 °C). Scotland saw a mean temperature of 1.3 °C, which is joint fifth alongside 1916 and 1958. The coldest March on record for Scotland was set in 1947 (0.2 °C). For Northern Ireland, this March saw a mean temperature of 2.8 °C, which is joint second alongside 1919, 1937, and 1962. The record was set in 1947 (2.5 °C).
This March was also much drier than average for the UK, with 62.1mm of rain falling during the month – just 65% of the 95.1mm average. Scotland was particularly dry, seeing 49.5mm of rain which is 35% of its long term average for the month.
Sunshine hours were also slightly down compared to average, with 82.9 hours for the UK notching up 81% of the average.
The cold and dry conditions seen in March were largely due to high pressure dominating UK weather patterns, allowing cold and relatively dry air to move in from the east. While this pattern is set to continue through the first week of April, milder and more unsettled conditions are expected to move in for the start of next week. You can stay up to date with the latest information with the Met Office’s forecasts.
| March 2013 | Actual | Difference from average | Actual | % of average |
| Regions | °C | °C | mm | % |
| UK | 2.2 | -3.3 | 62.1 | 65 |
| England | 2.6 | -3.6 | 64.4 | 101 |
| Wales | 2.4 | -3.4 | 86.2 | 74 |
| Scotland | 1.3 | -2.9 | 49.5 | 35 |
| N Ireland | 2.8 | -3.1 | 74.1 | 78 |
| England & Wales | 2.6 | -3.6 | 67.4 | 95 |
| England N | 1.8 | -3.7 | 56.4 | 75 |
| England S | 3 | -3.5 | 68.6 | 118 |
March – top five coldest in the UK
| 1 | 1962 | 1.9 °C |
| 2 | 2013 | 2.2 °C |
| 2 | 1947 | 2.2 °C |
| 4 | 1937 | 2.4 °C |
| 5 | 1916 | 2.5 °C |
Official blog of the Met Office news team 
What does a cold March suggest about the summer to follow?
Clive, there is no link between a cold March and what summer we may have.
Reblogged this on munnsmedia.
The Met Office’s announced a few days ago that March 2013 was only the “joint 4th coldest on record” (i.e. since 1910) rather than the joint 2nd coldest. This was based on a comparison of data to 26th in 2013 with the whole month in earlier years, which seems to me a tad unscientific.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that there was more media coverage of the earlier, misleading, announcement.
Why did the Met Office make its early announcement and not wait until complete data became available at the end of the month?
Tim, Many many media outlets were very interested in the statistics for March. In response to media enquiries we provided some early statistics, making it clear that these were provisional and would be updated once the full month stats were available.
Reblogged this on Old School Garden.
Still waiting to hear if the Met Office has abandoned the global warming nonsense or not, in the light of the fact that the earth has cooled since 2002, hasn’t statistically warmed for at least 17 years and the UK so far this year has been colder than every year back to the 1870s.
It seems that ‘natural variability’ has an extraordinay ability to mask the ‘basic physics’ (yet undetermined) heat trapping effects of CO2.