Reaching Hard-to-Reach Audiences

March was an incredibly dry month across the UK with England and Wales experiencing their driest March conditions since at least 1961.

Parts of East Anglia have seen their sunniest March on record. But as the dry and sunny conditions continue there is an increased fire risk across large areas of England.

Central and southern parts of England were the driest through the month and at St James's Park in Central London just 2.6mm (0.1in) was recorded, making it the weather station's driest March on record.

Even with the severe storms that battered a few parts of England with intense rain, hail and thunder on Saturday 22 March, many places avoided the heavy downpours.

For Lyneham (Wiltshire) and Plymouth (Devon), it was the driest March since 1961, with Blackpool (Lancashire) extending that record to 1960. Lyneham only recorded 3.2mm (0.13in) of rain through the entire month - this was just 6% of the long-term average for March.

According to the Met Office, across England and Wales as a whole only a quarter (25%) of the typical March rainfall was recorded, with south-east England driest of all, receiving just 13% of its normal rainfall.

Northern Ireland and Scotland also experienced a drier March than usual, picking up just 32% and 64% respectively of their typical rainfall amounts.

Weather patterns were fairly static across north-west Europe during March.

With the Jet stream often looping to the north of the UK large areas of high pressure dominated. These were linked to large zones of drier air descending through the atmosphere which helps to prevent rain clouds from forming.

The position of the high pressure also meant that winds often blew out of dry continental Europe rather than from the moisture laden air of the Atlantic.

In contrast this same weather pattern brought wet and stormy weather across Spain and Portugal, with Madrid experiencing its wettest March ever recorded.

These blocked patterns are fairly common in spring. In 2024 the UK was on the flip side of the block and had it's sixth wettest spring on record. Some areas received almost double their normal amount of rainfall.

Research is ongoing to establish whether there is a link between the frequency and duration of such blocked weather patterns with the changing global climate.

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