I hope you’ve all enjoyed your Christmas, even though the weather has been rather uninspiring. It would have felt more seasonal if Christmas had fallen in October or November this year.
Overnight on the 28th December the temperature hit 17C for a short time in the north Highlands.
This is absurd stuff, and even some summer nights would struggle to stay that high.
As we come to the end of another year, I thought we could have a look back at some of the highs and lows of 2019.
Temperature
Generally spring and summer were around average or above temperature-wise. February was much milder than usual with the Highlands around 3 degrees up on average.
Autumn was chillier than usual with temperatures 2 degrees lower than average during November in the Highlands and across Ayrshire.
The 25th July was the hottest day of the year with Kinloss, Grangemouth and Edinburgh all reaching over 31C. Gogarbank near Edinburgh got very close to 32C.
As you might expect, the warmest night of the year followed the warmest day with Achnagart in the north west Highlands not getting lower than 21C on the night of the 25th July. Oban stayed at 18.8C and Grangemouth 18.7C.
Now onto my personal favourite, the cold weather.
The coldest weather occurred on the 31st January and the 1st February. On the night of the 31st the mercury dropped to -15.4C, in the usual cold spot of Braemar. Not too far away, Balmoral recorded a low of -13.2C on the same night.
The 31st of January was the coldest day of the year with temperature only hitting a high of -5C in Balmoral and -4C in Cromdale.
Rainfall
Now we’re no stranger to rainfall, but remember how horrendous it was in August? It seemed like relentless rain, and it was at the start of the month there was a rockfall on the A82 between Crianlarich and Tarbet. Several railway lines were closed at points throughout the months due to landslips.
On the the 7th August widespread flooding was reported around Moray and around the Cairngorms. In August, most of Scotland had two times the normal rainfall for the month.
In comparison Autumn was much drier, especially in the west of the country. Some parts of Lochaber and the north west Highland coast had less than 20% of the normal rainfall for November. There was a huge contrast between east and west though, with St Andrews and Aberdeen getting twice the usual rainfall for the month.
The wettest day of the year was the 12th of June, we must have known at that point that we were in for a rubbish summer. A huge 109mm of rain fell in, wait for it… the Hungry Snout in East Lothian.
Snow hasn’t been a major issue in Scotland this year.
Snow
Snow hasn’t become a major issue this year, with lots of you complaining, including myself, about the lack of it.
That being said, there was plenty of it in Tomnavoulin, south of Glenlivet on the 2nd of February with 33cm lying. This snow remained on the ground for over a week.
Wind
While there’s been little snow around for most of us, there’s also been very little in the way of storms at this end of the year. We’ve only had Storm Atiyah so far this season, and she hit Wales and the south of England in early December.
Our strongest winds were recorded on the 11th December as a storm system passed over the Northern Isles. This was not a named storm, but winds gusted up to 78mph in Shetland. Orkney’s strongest gusts were actually recorded in a storm in early January with winds reaching 76mph.
So, for most it’s been quieter year weather wise, but I’m sure for many of you that’s a good thing.
Here’s to whatever Mother Nature has in store for us in 2020 – personally I’m hoping for more snow and a nice warm summer. Have a lovely new year and see you soon.
