Winter 2024 to 2025 was an increasingly rare average in regards to temperature. This was despite mild December was being the 4th warmest on record. The strange statistical quirk show that for Sheffield we have never recorded any following winter months falling below average be it the 1961 - 1990 average or the present 1991 - 2020 average. It briefly looked like this would be the case when January came in below the 1991 - 2020 average. February tried hard with a weak easterly but mild weather came back and crushed any chance of this happening. So I can still say Winter is effectively over when December is so mild. The winter only saw three named storms these being Storm Darragh, Storm Éowyn, Storm Herminia. None of these had any major impact and rather unnamed storms had a greater impact. Generally though Winter 24/25 was a fairly quiet affair in regards to strong winds but did have some notable rainfall.
December was the 4th warmest on record and the 19th wettest on record. It featured storm Darragh which had little impact bringing some rain but nothing outstanding and wind gusts to 49mph. So this wasn't a storm in this part of the region. The real windy weather was on the 21st and 22nd when winds reached 64 mph and 55mph respectively. How this wasn't named one can only try and guess but shows that the naming of storms needs scrapping and is pointless when some get named and other stronger systems don't.
Temperatures wise December saw spells of spring like weather, remember 6.9C average is higher than March's so calling it spring like is quite correct. 16 days saw temperatures break the 10C barrier and four days breaking the 12C degree level. The warmest days were the 24th with 13.2C, The 18th with 12.9C, the 1st and the 17th with 12.7C. Christmas being one of the warmest on record. The mild run of the days were from the 4th to the 6th, then 14th to the 18th, 23rd to the 25th and 29th to the 31st. There wasn't any maintained cold weather through December with the coldest day being the 3rd with 5.2C. Temperatures did get close to freezing on the 3rd to the 4th with 0.3 and 0.2C being the low. The 27th and 28th also saw 0.8C and 0.5C being the low. These being the only days when temperatures were below normal. The month devoid of any air frosts.
The month despite being so mild did actually see Snow fall overnight on the 21st to the 22nd as cold air briefly arrived in the early hours and early morning before turning mild again.
The named storm for the month Darragh had little impact while a very strong system just before Christmas brought strong winds with gusts to 65 mph on the 21st and 55 mph on the 22nd. Certainly should have been named and there was no reason why it wasn't. overall though another quiet month.
Rainfall for December was well above average with 114mm falling. The heaviest rainfall were on the 5th with 17.1mm and the 7th with 14.1mm. The 18th saw 16mm but the killer was the 31st with 29.7mm falling which pushed the month above average. This meant December was the 2nd month of the year to break the 100mm mark.
January was a unique month. It was the first winter month to come in below average after a December which saw an average of 6C plus. It tired to even get below the 1961 - 1990 average but a few mild days and a rather mild close to the month put a stop to that. It was also another very wet month.
The first twelve days of the month were below average with ten air frosts recorded. The coldest day was within this period with a high of only 1.2C on the 8th just beating 1.3C on the 5th. The coldest night was the 9th with -4C being the low The following days recorded -3.7C and -3.8C and then -3.6C. The cold spell ended on 13th with double figures being recorded and spring like temperatures 13.5C on the 16th being reached. The 14th saw 11.4C and the 15th 12.6C. The warmest night was the 15th with 5.8C being the low. A short cold snap of two days saw the last air frost recorded on the 19th. The 23rd and 24th saw double figures again as temperatures hit 10.5C and 10C. Overall though the period from the 20th to the 31st was just above average and mild enough to bring the month above the 1961 - 1990 average. The second half on the month was rather mild over all.
Rainfall for January was above average with 60.2mm of rain falling in three days between the 4th and the 6th. This was mostly snow and the water equivalent being 15.2mm on the 4th then 41.8mm on the 5th and 3.2mm on the 6th. The high water content meant that the snow depth wasn't that great. After the 6th only 3.2mm fell up until the 22nd. 0.3mm of that being frost melt!.
The month actually had some Snow this fell over 4 days with spells of rain intermixed. So heavy overnight Snow on the 4th into the 5th turned to light rain and drizzle and then heavy overnight rain which then turned back to Snow in the early hours before returning back to light rain in the morning of the 6th before dying out quickly. This brought a depth of 10cm. by the 7th the depth dropped to 7cm and then 6cm by the 8th. However most of the snow was actually ice and the cold nights caused the ice to start expanding and the Snow depth went back up to 10cm by the 12th. Warmer temperatures caused a steady thaw with the Snow all gone by the 14th. The Snow remained the majority on the 5th bringing a depth of 10cm. This is the first time I ever seen this happen but then normally snow isn't all ice. The ice content made walking on pavements very difficult.
Storms Éowyn had little impact producing gusts up to 50mph and was a fairly weak affair here. The month was another fairly quiet month.
So the next question was would February also come in blow average and the become the first winter to have not one but two months below average. Well it didn't with month coming in close to average mainly due to a weak cloudy easterly which just brought gray skies and light rain and drizzle and only two days saw any snow which was light. The month was also a dry one but not dry enough to prevent a wet rather mild winter.
The first five days of the month were mild with double figures being reached on the 4th when 10.1C was the high. By the 6th hint son easterly were beginning to arrive however cloud soon arrived keeping the night time temperatures up and being a very humid flow brought light rain and drizzle rather than snow despite some very cold uppers at times during the this period. The easterly lasted between the 7th until the 18th. The 6th and 7th saw air frosts but no more were recorded until the 18th when ironically less cold uppers arrived but a change of wind direction brought drier air and clearer skies. The coldest nights were from the 18th until the 19th when -2.7C the coldest night and then -2.5C on the 19th. The coldest day was on the 13th when 3C was the low. Double figures were reached on the 19th with 10.2c then 14C with the 21st recording 14.6C and 15.3 degree range of temperature across the recoding period. Spring like weather continued in the 24th then temperatures went back towards normal. However the spring like temperatures brought the temperatures above the 1961 - 1990 average, it did briefly reach the average while temperatures came close to the 1991 - 2020 average by the months end.
Rainfall wise February was a dry month with only 0.6mm in the first 7 days and not much more fell during the rest of the month with the highest values being 9.2mm on the 23rd and then 6.5mm on the 10th. After the 23rd rainfall was again light mostly in the form of showery rain. There was enough rain to take the month out of the top 20 driest but it was still.
Snow fell only on two days and didn't settle.
| This Winters Averages and Highs and Lows | ||
|---|---|---|
| Average Temp 4.7C | This Winters Average 5.1C | Difference from average 0.4C |
| Average Max Temp 7.3C | This Winters Max Average 7.6C | Difference from average 0.3C |
| Average Min Temp 1.9C | This Winters Min Average 2.5C | Difference From Average 0.6C |
| High Max 14.6C on the 21st of Feb | Low Max 1.2C on the 8th of Jan | Highest Daily Range 15.3C on the 21st of Feb |
| High Min 10.3C on the 1sth of Dec | Low Min -4.0C on the 9th of Jan | Lowest Daily Range 0.5C on the 10th of Dec |
| Number of Air Frosts 17 | Days of Thunder 0 | Days of Snow 6 |
| Days of Rain > 0 52 Days | Days of Rain with Trace 9 Days | Days with Gusts ≥ 50 mph 3 days |
| Average Rainfall 260.9 mm | This Winters Average 227.1mm | Percentage of Average Rainfall 114.9% |