February 2026 saw temperatures basically average for the 1991-2020 and well above the 1961 -1990 average. Remember being in a degree counts as average. It was a very wet month. It as also a fairly cloudy month with sunshine at times a rare event. The month didn't feature any named storms as these were directed into Europe instead. The month did make the top ten warmest months coming at 12th. But it made the top ten wettest coming in at 8th. The month once again continued the failed easterly theme for most of the first half of the month. Although cold air did hit the region it was only a brief glancing swipe. It also confirmed continued the modern quirk of mild December which have a greater than 6C average leading to mild winter.
The month didn't have much in way of temperature variation for the 1st twenty days it was only after the 20th when milder air took over bringing another early spring. The first twenty days overall were close to the 1991-2020 average and above the 1961-1990 average. This made the comment by Carol Kirkwood that it being cold a rather strange one. Consider for most of the month we were on the north side of the jet stream it should have been a very cold month. However since the winds had a mainly ESE component any cold air was directed to Scotland. The one mild day during the first twenty days was on the 11th when 10.6C was reached. There were a few days below average the coldest day being the 3rd with 1.8C being the high. The next coldest the 1th with 2.7C being the high. Three air frosts occurred on the 14th, 15th and the 18th. The values being -1.3C on the 14th and the 18th and -1.1C on the 15th. There were ten days in all that were on the cold to rather cold side during the first twenty days. However the 8 days above average were enough to offset these. The warmest day and night came after the 20th when 13.6C was reached on the 24th and 9.8C being the low on the 26th. The month finished on a mild to very mild note bringing the average temperature to just above normal and basically average as it's within the 1C. This is using the 1991-2020 average.
February was a wet month with above average rainfall passing the 100mm mark soon after the 20th. It rained every day up to the 17th continuing a wet spell from January meaning that it rained on 41 consecutive days and all of these days had measurable rain and didn't include any trace conditions. This period brought a total of 213mm. Normally you would except a few records broken but this didn't occur although the winter and February were in the top ten wettest months and Winters. The wettest day was on the 5th when 27.4mm of rain and Wet Snow fell. 11.6mm more fell on the 6th followed by 7mm the next day. Nearly a 3rd of the monthly total. Rainfall reached double figures again on the 10th with 10.7mm falling. Rainfall amounts generally were less after the 20th with the odd dry day thrown in but the month still passed 100mm mark. This being only the 4th time January and February had both gone past the 100mm mark. Considering there weren't any names storms in the month it quite impressive that the 100mm mark was reached. That said it did rain on all but two days.
February didn't buck the trend of less stormy weather as there weren't any windy days recorded during the month with the highest gust being 35mph on the 26th. The decline in windy days is a national trend when comparing 1961-1990 to 1991-2020 although this may just be temporary feature only time will tell. However this goes against the narrative of increased stormy weather from media releases.
There was some rare Snow in February with Snow falling on the 3rd, 5th, 13th, 14th and the 18th. Most was transpositional quickly turning to rain or briefly turning to Snow before dying away as on the 14th. There wasn't any recordable snow cover during the February though.
We managed 3 air frosts in February a poor total but this demonstrates the effect of the cloudy days. If there had been less cloud we may well have been talking about an below average month.
March sees of the low pressure systems and high pressure builds across the country and this maintaining control for the first seven days before the Atlantic briefly tries to retake control. However high pressure soon returns and remains in control right up until the middle of the month when it relocates to the N of the UK allowing a easterly to develop. The easterly looks to be fairly potent so a chance of some wintry showers. The high pressure looks to stay based to the N of the UK until the end of the month. This gives an impression of a month of two halves. A dry mild settled start, spring like by day but chilly at night with some ground frosts. The 2nd half colder but again fairly settled but with night frosts by night and sunny spells by day. The month is looking to be fairly dry with well below average rainfall and temperatures around normal the two halves cancelling each other out. Except Yorkshire water to start worrying about water levels again.
| February's Averages, Highs and Lows | ||
|---|---|---|
| Average Temp 4.8C | Last Months Average 5.7C | Difference from average 0.9C |
| Average Max Temp 7.8C | Last Months Average 7.7C | Difference from average -0.1C |
| Average Min Temp 1.7C | Last Months Average 3.7C | Difference From Average 2.0C |
| High Max 13.6C on the 24th | Low Max 1.8C on the 3rd | Highest Daily Range 7.9C on the 21st |
| High Min 9.8C on the 26th | Low Min -1.3C on the 14th,18th | Lowest Daily Range 0.2C on the 3rd |
| Number of Air Frosts 3 | Days of Thunder 0 | Days of Snow 5 |
| Days of Measurable Rain 25 Days | Days of Rain with trace 1 Days | Days with Gusts ≥ 50 mph 0 day |
| Average Rainfall 65.2mm | This Months Average 119.0mm | Percentage of Average Rainfall 182.5% |