2018

January. A month dominated by a strong Atlantic jet stream which culminated in a north-south divide with the north tending to be on the relatively cool side compared to the south where it was mild. The Central England Temperature (CET) was 5.3c making it the mildest January in two years here. Storm Eleanor on the 2nd/3rd gave away to gales including a maximum gust of 84 knots (156 km/h) at Knock Airport, Co. Mayo. The maximum temperature reached during the month was 15.1c at Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire on the 28th whilst Kinbrace & Altnaharra in the Highlands of Scotland had a minimum of -13.7c on the 21st January. Ireland had a maximum temperature of 13.8c at Roches Point, Co. Cork on the 27th and a minimum of -6.8c at Athenry, Co. Galway on the 8th. The latter was the coldest January temperature in Ireland since 2013. In this zonal pattern, there was some outbreaks of snowfall at times, most notably on the 16th/17th associated with Storm Fionn and the 21st. Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway recorded a snow depth of 38cm on the 17th. Unsurprisingly, the month was wetter than average for most but it was not as wet as January 2014 or 2016 generally. Malin Head, Co. Donegal had its wettest January since its records began in 1885 with a monthly rainfall total of 203.7mm.

February. The coldest February since 2010 but not exceptionally so with a CET of 2.9c. Much of the month was fairly Atlantic driven but rainfall amounts tended to be small and the mean wind direction was northwesterly bringing cold air from the North Atlantic. This pattern resulted in a very sunny month; it was the second sunniest on record for the UK back to 1929 with only 2008 being sunnier. Several outbreaks of wintry weather occurred including snow showers for northern areas during much of the first half, frontal snow for parts of Ireland on the 5th/6th and a 'Beast from the East' event that concluded the month ending the Winter on a cliffhanger. This was

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