Through the weekend, cold, dry arctic air has been filtering south over the UK and Ireland. Thanks to clear skies and light winds, temps dropped to surprisingly low values early Monday morning.
Credit: Mark Vogan
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The mid-winter -8.0C at Katesbridge, Co Down was the coldest April night on record for the site and came close to Northern Ireland’s April record of -8.5C set back on April 10, 1998. This is almost certain to be the coldest for so late in the year as the May record is -6.5 set back in 1982. -8 is impressive in EARLY April but even more impressive given that we’re just days from May.
Credit: BBC Northern Ireland Weather
Another contributor to such unusually low readings for so late could be the lack of soil moisture combined with dry air. Dry ground can have the same effects by night as by day at helping enhance overnight radiational cooling just like enhancing the heating process by day.
Dew points are very low and with bone dry ground, so there’s no moisture being added to the atmosphere to help retain warmth by night.
Credit: AccuWeather Pro
UK climate – Extremes
Weather extremes
Temperature by month
Northern Ireland: Lowest daily minimum temperature records
| Month | Temperature ( °C) | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | -17.5 | 1 January 1979 | Magherally (County Down) |
| February | -15.0 | 7 February 1895 | Armagh (County Armagh) |
| March | -14.8 | 2 March 2001 | Katesbridge (County Down) |
| April | -8.5 | 10 April 1998 | Killylane (County Antrim) |
| May | -6.5 | 7 May 1982 | Moydamlaght (County Londonderry) |
| June | -2.4 | 4 June 1991 | Lough Navar Forest (County Fermanagh) |
| July | -1.1 | 17 July 1971 | Lislap Forest (County Tyrone) |
| August | -1.1 | 21 August 1964 | Loughermore Forest (County Londonderry) |
| September | -3.2 | 30 September 1991 | Magherally (County Down) |
| October | -7.2 | 18 October 1993 | Lough Navar Forest (County Fermanagh) |
| November | -12.2 | 15 November 1919 | Lisburn (County Antrim) |
| December | -18.7 | 24 December 2010 | Castlederg (County Tyrone) |
Just last August, Northern Ireland set a new monthly cold record.
Northern Ireland Experiences Coldest August Night
Meanwhile here in Scotland, this was the scene yesterday evening on the A9 between Tomatin and Slochd.
Credit: Yvonne
The chill in NI is fairly rare, here on this side of the channel (-2 to -4C) is fairly run of the mill just like the high ground snow is.
Here’s the reason for the sudden flip that’s not uncommon during spring here.
See yesterday’s write-up for this week’s forecast and thoughts on next week too.
More in today’s video.
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