We are getting used to mild Januaries. But there’s a downside: “mild” can often mean “wet and windy”, as the prevailing weather systems are coming off the Atlantic Ocean to the west, rather than mainland Europe to the north and east. January 2005 was the warmest for 15 years, yet England and much of Wales got away with a fairly dry month, while south-east England enjoyed hours of sunshine well above average.
Farther north and west, however, it was a very different story. Early in the month, north Wales and the Lake District experienced heavy rain and high winds, with over two months’ worth of rain falling at some hilly locations. The surplus water soon ran off the already wet hillsides, flooding the city of Carlisle and damaging nearly 2,000 homes.
And on the night of 11 January, a heavy storm battered the west coast of Scotland, with gusts of over 100mph recorded at Barra and Stornoway, at either end of the Western Isles, tragically resulting in five deaths. Northern Ireland also bore its fair share of the bad weather, with high winds, rain and more seasonal snow closing roads and schools.
Fortunately, the later part of January was marked by high pressure, bringing much-needed settled weather over the UK.
