Storm Dunlop - Weather almanac 2022 : the perfect gift for nature lovers and weather watchers

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EXPLORE OUR RANGE OF ASTRONOMY TITLES

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The south-western region is taken to include Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset and the western portion of Wiltshire. This area is largely dominated by its proximity to the sea, although the northern and eastern portion of the region often experiences rather different weather. In many respects the closeness of the Atlantic means that the weather resembles that encountered in the west of Ireland or the Hebrides. Generally, the climate is extremely mild, although that in the Scilly Isles is drier, sunnier and much milder than the closest part of the Cornish peninsula, just 40 km farther north. In the prevailing moist, south-westerly airstreams, the islands are not only surrounded by the sea, but they are fairly flat with no hills to cause the air to rise and produce rain. The Channel Islands, well to the east, are affected by their proximity to France and sometimes come under the influence of anticyclonic high-pressure conditions on the near Continent, so their overall climate tends to be more extreme.

Despite its generally mild weather, the region has experienced extremes, such as the exceptional snowfall in March 1891 that paralysed southern counties and the British rainstorm record held by Martinstown in Dorset.

Most of the peninsula of Devon and Cornwall sees very few days of frost and some areas are almost completely frost-free. Temperatures are lower, of course, over the high ground of Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor. Indeed, those areas and the Mendip Hills and Blackdown Hills do all have slightly different climatic regimes. The influence of the Severn Estuary extends well inland, and actually has an effect on the weather in the Midlands (see ). In winter, it allows mild air to penetrate far inland. In Cornwall and Devon, particularly in summer, sea breezes from opposite sides of the peninsula converge over the high ground that runs along the centre of the peninsula, leading to the formation of major cumulonimbus clouds and frequent showers, which may give extreme rainfall. It was this that led to the Lynmouth disaster in August 1952, when waters from a flash flood devastated the town and caused the deaths of 34 people. A somewhat similar situation arose in August 2004 in nearby Boscastle and Crackington Haven, although in that instance, no lives were lost.

The escarpment of the Cotswolds, overlooking the Severn valley, often proves to be a boundary between different types of weather. This is particularly the case when there is a north-westerly wind. Then, heavy showers may affect areas on the high ground, while it is warmer and with less wind over the flatter land in the Severn valley and around Gloucester. It is often bitterly cold on the high ground above the escarpment.

The weather in the south-eastern corner of the country may be divided into two main areas: the counties along the south coast (Hampshire, West and East Sussex and Kent); and the Home Counties around London and East Anglia, although East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk in particular) often experiences rather different conditions to the Home Counties.

The coastal strip from Hampshire (including the Isle of Wight) eastwards to southern Kent has long been recognised as the warmest and sunniest part of the British Isles. This largely arises from the longer duration of warm tropical air from the Continent when compared with the length of time that such air penetrates to more northern areas. The coastal strip from Norfolk to northern Kent does experience some warming effect when the winds are in the prevailing south-westerly direction, offsetting the cold North Sea. This coast may experience severe weather when there is an easterly or north-easterly airflow over the North Sea. This is particularly the case in winter: cold easterly winds bring significant snowfall to the region. It is also a feature of spring and early summer when temperatures are reduced with an onshore wind off the North Sea.

Frosts and frost hollows are a feature of the South and North Downs, the Chiltern Hills (in Berkshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire) and in the high ground in East Anglia. Here, the chalk subsoil loses heat by night as do the sandy soils of Surrey and Breckland in Norfolk, leading to ground frost in places in any month of the year.