Meteorologists have confirmed a new UK record was set for the sunniest April, with an average 224.5 hours of sunshine, beating the previous record of 211.9 hours in April 2015.
Along with all the sunshine, April was unusually dry as gardeners discovered when their lawns grew increasingly parched. Perhaps the big downpours in the last week of the month, especially in the southern half of England, came in the nick of time. Despite the rains, April was still dry overall. It was 40% below the norm across the UK, with many northern parts abnormally dry. Morpeth in Northumberland had its driest April in records going back 126 years. Those dry and sunny conditions were due to persistent high pressure over the UK, keeping rainclouds at bay.
The month was also remarkably warm for the UK, with temperatures 1.7C above the norm, despite the chilly end to the month. This fits a striking warming trend in the UK’s climate, with six Aprils since 2003 all in the top 10 warmest Aprils in temperature records that date back to 1884.
