October 2011 was a warm but changeable month with frequent southwesterly and southerly winds - indeed it was the 11th most 'southwesterly' October in 139 years of records. Mean monthly temperatures were among the highest on record; the Central England Temperature has been higher only in 1921, 1969, 1995, 2001, 2005 and 2006. It is noteworthy that all seven warmer Octobers have occurred in the last 100 years, six of them in the last half-century, and five in the last 16 years.
Mean maximum temperature for October ranged from 18.1°C at Heathrow, Kew Gardens, St James's Park and Olympic Park South (all London) to 10.5°C at Dalwhinnie (Inverness-shire), while mean minimum temperature varied between 12.8°C at St Catherine's Point (Isle of Wight) and Portland (Dorset), and 6.3°C at Loch Glascarnoch and Elphin (both Wester Ross). Mean maximum temperature ranged from 0.0-0.5 °C above normal in western Scotland to 3.5°C above in the Midlands, while mean minimum temperature was 1.5 to 2.5°C above in most regions. The Central England Temperature (CET) of 12.7°C was 2.3°C above the long-term mean making this the warmest October since 2006.
The highest maximum at a standard site (i.e excluding rooftop and mountain sites) in the UK was 29.9°C at Swanscombe/Broadness on the 1st - a new UK record for October - while the lowest minimum was minus 3.3°C at Lynford (Norfolk) early on the 20th. The lowest daytime maximum was 4.3°C at Loch Glascarnoch (Wester Ross) on the 19th, and the warmest night was that of the 30th Sep/1st Oct with a minimum of 18.6°C at Emley Moor (West Yorks).
Rainfall averaged over England and Wales during October was 68mm which is 94 per cent of the average for the standard reference period 1971-2000, the highest for this month since 2008; in the last 100 years 67 Octobers were wetter while 33 were drier. The equivalent figures for Scotland were 132mm and 117 per cent of the normal amount, and for Northern Ireland 153mm and 156 per cent. At a more local level, rainfall ranged from more than twice the average in parts of southwest Scotland and Northern Ireland to less than one-quarter of the average locally in East Anglia, the East Midlands and the northern Home Counties. Monthly totals at routinely-available sites varied between 474mm at Cluanie Inn (Wester Ross) and 13mm at Cambridge.
Sunshine averaged over England and Wales during October was 122 hours which is 109 per cent of the 1971-2000 mean - almost exactly the same as October 2010. In the last 100 years 28 Octobers were sunnier while 72 were duller. The equivalent figures for Scotland were 69 hours and 78 per cent, and for Northern Ireland 68 hours and 72 per cent. Largest total in the UK was 163 hours at Manston (Kent) and the smallest was 30 hours at Eskdalemuir (Dumfriesshire) - a new October low for the site in over 100 years of records.
The windiest day of the month was the 17th, with peak gusts of 64 knots at Aberdaron (Lleyn peninsula) and 62 knots at Capel Curig (Snowdonia).
© Philip Eden
Source: http://feeds.weatheronline.co.uk/~r/weatheronline/~3/D4J_j9i17c4/reports
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