February - Dry, very sunny and cool. The driest February recorded since 1998 but the first colder than average February since 1996.
March - Very mild. Sunniest March since 1907 and driest March since 1997. Unsettled first week but no rain fell after the 9th.
April - Warm, dry and sunny. The sunniest April recorded since 1990 and the warmest since 1987. The 16th was the warmest April day since 1949. No rain fell between the 2nd and the 23rd. Unsettled final week.
May - Warm with average rainfall and sunshine. The weather turned very warm at the end of the month, with the hottest May day recorded since 1953.
June - Warm and sunny. Dry until an exceptionally wet final day, which caused flash floods. This made the month slightly wetter than average overall.
July - Very wet first day. No rain between the 4th and the 20th but unsettled final 10 days. A warm but duller than average month.
August - Very dry - the driest August recorded since 1995 and driest recorded month since February 1998. Warmer than average. Hot and sunny first half. Average temperatures and cloudy weather during the second half. Cool final week.
September - Was abroad between the 13th and the 27th.
October - Sunniest October since 1997. Colder than average and coldest October since 1993. Below average rainfall.
November - A mild month with below average rainfall and sunshine totals.
December - An unsettled month with average temperatures. Rainfall and sunshine totals both above average.
The lowest day-time Temperature was 32F on 7th January.
The highest night-time minima was 66F on 10th August.
The lowest night-time minima was 25F on 14th February and 31st December.
The sunniest day of 2003 was July 13th with 15.4 hours of sunshine.
The sunniest spell was between June 13th and June 16th, with an average of 12 hours. The second sunniest spell was between August 2nd and August 6th, with an average of 11.7 hours. The third sunniest spell was between July 12th and July 20th, which generated an average of 10.4 hours. The fourth sunniest spell was between April 7th and April 12th, which saw an average of 9.3 hours.
The cloudiest spell in 2003 was between November 4th and November 11th, with 3.1 hours of sunshine. The second cloudiest spell was between January 12th and January 21st, when 6.8 hours of sunshine was recorded.
June 30th was the wettest day of 2002 with 1.77 inches of rain, or 45 millimetres. December 20th was the second wettest day of the year, with 0.63 inches of rain or 16 millimetres. The third wettest day of 2003 was October 31st, with 0.62 inches of rain or 15.9 millimetres. The fourth wettest day of 2003 was November 14th, with 0.60 inches of rain or 15.7 millimetres.
The driest month of 2003 was August, then February followed by March.
The wettest month of 2003 was December, followed by May.
No rain fell at all between July 31st and August 24th, a time span of 24 days. No rain fell between April 2nd and April 23rd and between March 10th and March 31st, two time span's of 21 days. No rain fell between June 9th and June 22nd, a time span of 13 days.
Snow fell on January 3rd, January 4th, January 6th, January 7th, January 8th, February 3rd and December 31st. No hail was recorded during the year or strong winds, though there was a blizzard on the final night of the year. Two thunderstorm were recorded, on June 8th and July 30th.
The highest air pressure of 2003 was 1043MB on 16th March. 1041MB was recorded on the 17th February and 1037MB was recorded on the 11th January. 1036MB was recorded on the 5th April.
The lowest air pressure of 2003 was 983MB on 2nd January and 26th November. 986MB was recorded on 31st October and 990MB on 3rd February.
Sunshine totals for 2003 were 1688.5 hours, an increaase on 2002's total by 271.6 hours.
Rainfall for 2003 was 526.5 millimetres, a decrease on 2002's total by 329.1 millimetres.
2003 was the driest year since 1975.
Kevin Phillips - 11.15pm - Monday 12th January 2004.
