Climate summaries

Overview of weather across the UK for previous months, seasons and years

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UK last month

January 2025

January started with an Arctic maritime airmass bringing cold temperatures to the UK as well as wintry showers, especially in northern regions. From the 4^th to the 6^th a low pressure system brought extensive rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow to the UK. Northern England and southern Scotland saw large amounts of snowfall, but further south the precipitation became predominantly rain. High pressure then brought more settled conditions in the second week of January, although temperatures remained below average and widespread frosts and freezing fog brought some disruption. Altnaharra (Sutherland) saw its lowest January temperature since 2010 with -18.9°C recorded on the 11^th, before warmer air moved in on the 13^th. This brought above average temperatures to northern Scotland and Northern Ireland before spreading further south across the country over the following days. High pressure persisted for around a week, with largely settled conditions although some frontal systems brought showers. On the 24^th, the fifth named storm of the season, Eowyn, brought destructive winds to northwestern parts of the UK. The storm led to the first red warnings for wind in 2025 across Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland. Gusts of over 90mph were recorded across parts of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and a gust of 100mph was recorded at Drumalbin, Lanarkshire. Northern Ireland also recorded its lowest January mean sea level pressure (MSLP) on the 24^th, with 948.1mb recorded at Magilligan (Londonderry). Further wet and windy weather followed Eowyn as storm Herminia, named by the Spanish Meteorological Service, brought heavy rain and strong winds to southern England and Wales.

Temperatures in January were below average, with the UK recording a provisional mean temperature of 3.0°C, -0.9°C below the long-term average. All four nations recorded provisional mean temperatures below average for January. Although rainfall for the UK overall was below average, with provisionally 79% of the long-term average recorded, there was strong regional variation, with some areas experiencing much heavier rainfall. England, and in particular southern England, saw above average rainfall in January, while Scotland and Northern Ireland were both much drier than average. Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire recorded nearly 150% of their average January rainfall. Despite the cold and occasionally stormy weather, January was sunnier than average, with the UK provisionally recording 61.8 hours of sunshine, 130% of the long-term average. Northern Ireland, northern England and Scotland were particularly sunny, while areas further south were closer to average.

The UK monthly extremes were as follows: A maximum temperature of 15.7°C was recorded at Cassley (Sutherland) and Aboyne (Aberdeenshire) on the 14^th and 15^th. A minimum temperature of -18.9°C was recorded at Altnaharra (Sutherland) on the 11^th. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 UTC on the 14^th, 94.0mm of rain fell at Seathwaite (Cumbria). A wind gust of 87 knots (100 mph) was recorded at Drumalbin (Lanarkshire) on the 24^th.

Regional values for January 2025