back
graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 623 For   NOVEMBER  2007
A FAIRLY QUIET MONTH; WET SPELL 17TH-21ST OTHERWISE LARGELY DRY
Text Box: Anticyclonic and northwesterly types dominated the UK’s weather during November. Sea-level pressure was well above normal over the entire British Isles with anomalies ranging from +5mbar in Shetland to +9mbar in western Ireland; the anomalous flow was northerly. From the 1st to the 4th an anticyclone lay over Britain, moving to a position in the Southwest Approaches on the 5th where it remained for about a week. This allowed a north-westerly flow to develop over the country with disturbances tracking from Iceland to the southern Baltic; one of these became a very vigorous depression as it passed northern Scotland on the 8th. The anticyclone moved back to the UK on the 14th/15th, thence slipping into France before retreating towards eastern Europe. Until the 4th the weather was mostly dry with sunny periods over much of the UK, and it was rather warm too; at Dyce (Aberdeenshire) the minimum on the morning of the 1st was 14.5°C, while a maximum of 18.2°C was recorded at Kew Gardens (London) on the 1st and again at Portland (Dorset) on the 2nd. Portland also logged 8.4h of bright sunshine on the 2nd. Temperatures returned to near normal behind a cold front on the 5th which was a cloudy day, but the 6th was mostly sunny. On the 8th the westerly wind reached severe gale force in the extreme north of Scotland with peak gusts of 69kn at Lerwick and 81kn at Fair Isle, and another cold front advanced south-eastward across the country bringing light rain to all areas: at Waddington (Lincs) and Wittering (Cambs) this was the first significant rain for 23 days. The westerly flow soon veered north-northwesterly, producing a major storm surge in the North Sea. Coastal flooding, however, was very limited. Most parts of the UK became cold from the 12th onwards with widespread night frosts, although days were often sunny - St Mawgan (Cornwall) recorded 8.7h of sunshine on the 15th. Also on the 15th, fog persisted for much of the day in the Welsh Marches, and Ross-on-Wye (Herefs) recorded a maximum of just 2°C for the day. Notable minima during this
Text Box: period included -6.2°C at Shap (Cumbria) overnight 11th/12th and -6.4°C at Sennybridge (Brecon) on the 15th/16th. A deepening depression moved southwards across the UK on the 17th/18th, and from then until 21st a low complex lay over the British Isles. Pressure rose strongly ahead of a ridge of high pressure on the 22nd/23rd, but a changeable westerly type held sway for much of the last week. Rain fell widely and often heavily on each day from the 17th to the 21st; highest daily falls included 43.0mm at Shap (Cumbria) on the 17th, 44.4mm at Pershore (Worcs) on the 18th, and 41.4mm at Fyvie (Aberdeenshire) on the 21st. On the 18th it was cold enough for snow to fall for a time over much of the Midlands, Wales and northern England with temporary accumulations that evening of 2-4cm. That day’s maximum at Thorncliffe (Staffs) was just 2.2°C, but the next few days were milder. An incursion of Arctic air on the 22nd/23rd brought snow showers to Scotland and northern England, and the temperature fell to -7.8°C at Saughall (Ayrshire) on the morning of the 23rd and to -6.6°C at Benson (Oxon) the next morning. The maximum at Lerwick (Shetland) on the 25th was just 1.0°C. The closing days of November were changeable with occasional rain, heaviest in the north and west, and it became very mild on the 30th when the temperature reached 15°C locally. Mean maximum temperature was around 1 degC above the 1971-2000 mean in all regions, but mean minima ranged from 2.5 degC above in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland to exactly normal in most of the English regions. Rainfall was above average only in northern and eastern Scotland (by 10-20 per cent), and there was less than half the normal amount in much of East Anglia, the east Midlands, and the West Country. Sunshine totals ranged from 30-40 per cent above normal over most of eastern England to 40 per cent below in parts of western Scotland and Northern Ireland.
                                                                                                                                             
                       TEMPERATURE                                SUNSHINE                             RAINFALL                                                       
                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                     
                                          Highest and lowest totals                     Highest and lowest totals        
                                              on record for month    
Maximum fall in 24 hrs (beginning 09 h)
                    on record for month    
Days with snow or sleet
 
Days with fog (Vis <220 yards at 09 h)
 
                                                                                         
     
Difference from average
   
Difference from average
 
Highest maximum
   
Lowest minimum
   
No. of days with grass minimum below 0ºC
   
Days of no sunshine
 
Maximum duration
       
First year of record
         
Days of no rainfall (0.1 mm or less)
         
First year of record
         
Days with thunder
     
       PLACE  
Mean Maximum
   
Mean minimum
             
No. of air frosts
       
Total for month
                   
Total for month
                   
                               
% of average
                   
% of average
                 
                                                                     
                                   
Highest
   
Lowest
 
Year
             
Highest
   
Lowest
 
Year
       
             
Date
   
Date