April is on average the driest month in our area, measuring 40.1 mm including this year. Of course, with only 30 days a slightly lower average might be expected, but it is still lower than even February, which averages 42.6 mm over its 28/29 days. This April continued the trend of below average rainfalls with just 22.4 mm of rain, which was 44 percent below average in this area. Had we not had heavy rainfall on the morning of 23^rd, this April would have been very dry indeed, although not record-breaking. Actually, 2025 is turning out to be a dry year so far and concern is being expressed as to whether control of water usage may become necessary. There were 26 days with no measurable rainfall and no snow days.

The average temperature was 11.4°C, which is 2.1°C above April’s average for this area. There was just one air frost and 10 ground frosts. The 30th saw the highest temperature of 28.1°C.

Mainly easterly winds varied between light and moderate with a maximum gust of 31mph on the 16th. The atmospheric pressure was generally high, but dipped mid-month, averaging 1019hPa. The maximum pressure was 1032hPa with a minimum of 998hPa. Recurring anticyclones dominated either side of a cold front (area of low-pressure) in the middle of the month.

What was exceptional was the number of sunshine hours measured. With 245 hours recorded this was the highest in our area since 1895, when measurements were first taken. Furthermore, the 30th was the sunniest April day ever recorded. There was not a single day when the sun did not shine. Note that the Ultraviolet Index (UVI) becomes high at this time of the year even though the days may feel cool. Protection from the sun between 11 am and 3 pm is essential as unprotected skin will be damaged by the UV content of sunshine between the months of April and September, when the UVI regularly exceeds three, as shown on the chart for sunshine and UVI levels.

   

Where has the rain gone?

We are currently experiencing one of the driest meteorological spring periods, ie March to May, since records began according to the Met Office [1]. As I write this article there are still two weeks until the start of meteorological summer on 1^st June, so plenty of time for rainfall especially as school half-terms and a bank holiday approach! In the light of this announcement by the Met Office I looked up the rainfall data in Offchurch collected over the past 28 years, see chart below. If the rainfall for the remainder of May follows the current trend this will be our driest spring with just 44 mm of rainfall from 1^st March to 15^th May. However, 2011 will run this spring a close second at 52 mm and may still be the driest if we have more than 8 mm of precipitation in the next two weeks. Looking across the whole of the UK the rainfall for this spring needs to be under the 100.7 mm recorded in 1852, which is currently the lowest spring rainfall. Note the considerable difference between the total UK measurements and those from our area due to different climatic conditions across our land.

 

Spring’s UK wide sunshine record of 626 hours may also be broken. Currently, we have had 554 hours of spring sunshine here in Offchurch, which is still some way behind the current record for our area of 663 hours recorded in 1990 [2].

The reason for this settled period of weather is that the jet stream has taken a more northerly path than usual allowing high pressure systems emanating from the Azores and mainland Europe to dominate the UK, blocking the flow of the more typical unsettled weather from the Atlantic. Cool northeasterly winds have brought dry and mostly sunny conditions since early February. However, there may be a change to the wetter southwesterlies before long…

[1] https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2025/how-close-are-we-to-breaking-spring-records, accessed 15/05/2025

[2] Burt, S. & Burt, T., 2019, Oxford weather and climate science since 1767, Oxford, OUP, p226

For local weather details and forecasts please go to: https://offweather.hopto.org

Richard Seaton

rkseaton@outlook.com