December was a much milder month than was predicted. The CET (Central England Temperature) ended up at 6.89c which was 2.3c above normal. This made the month the 15th warmest on record. It was a mixed month weather wise with one cold spell mid month which brought freezing rain. Most of the month was high pressure dominated with mild south westerlies.
UK Stats
Here are some stats for the UK, the highest temperature occurred at Kew Gardens (London) on the 2nd with 15.9c. The lowest temperature was on the 5th with -8.8c at Braemar (Aberdeenshire). At Cluanie Inn (Ross & Cromarty) it was the wettest place with 64.6mm of rain. Highest gust of wind was at Isle of Portland (Dorset) with 82mph. Mid month there was a cold spell which brought freezing rain and some snow, 1cm was recorded at Bowhill (Selkirkshire) and a few other places.
2018 stats
With every month bar 2 (February & March) above average this made 2018 the 4th warmest year since records began in 1659. Some months were significantly warmer and February / March was very cold with the beast from the East.
Watford Stats
The weather in Watford has been quite benign with lots of quiet weather to end the month. Below are the detailed stats, the maximum temperature was 13.3c and lowest was -1.4c. The month as a whole only had 4 frosts which is quite a bit below what you would expect. On the 6th there was a very warm night where the temperature didn’t go below 10.6c.
In terms of rainfall it was a bit below average with only 39.9mm of rain fall. There were 18 days where some rain fell and 13 dry days, with the wettest day being on the 18th with 6.9mm fell. It wasn’t especially windy with the strongest gust on the 9th with 22mph gust.
Looking ahead to January
All change compared to December, the first few days of January are looking mild but the temperature will lower each day as the winds switch round to the north and NE. With high pressure around the UK, subtle changes will affect where the air is coming from. Further into the month around week 2 to 3 it looks likely there will be a cold blast. How long this lasts is anyone’s guess.
Summary for December 2018 in Watford
Temperature (°C):
Mean (1 minute) 7.2
Mean (min+max) 7.1
Mean Minimum 4.2
Mean Maximum 10.0
Minimum -1.4 day 13
Maximum 13.3 day 02
Highest Minimum 10.6 day 06
Lowest Maximum 4.9 day 14
Air frosts 4
Rainfall (mm):
Total for month 39.9
Wettest day 6.9 day 18
High rain rate 7.2 day 01
Rain days 18
Dry days 13
Wind (mph):
Highest Gust 22.1 day 09
Average Speed 1.0
Wind Run 711.9 miles
Gale days 0
Pressure (mb):
Maximum 1030.4 day 31
Minimum 988.0 day 20
Days with snow falling 0
Days with snow lying at 0900 0
Links
Met Office – https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/cet_info_mean.html
Met Office Summary – https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2018/december
Real time Watford Weather – https://weather.andrewlalchan.co.uk/
Flickr – https://www.flickr.com/photos/alalchan
Weather Outlook – https://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twocommunity/
November – https://blog.andrewlalchan.co.uk/watford-weather-november-statistics/
