THE University of Reading’s Meteorological Department commented on recent warm March weather.
Professor Stephen Burt said that Thursday, March 20, was the warmest day so early in the calendar for 35 years.
“The maximum temperature by the Automatic Weather Station (AWS) in the Atmospheric Observatory was 20.1 degrees celsius,” he said.
“The normal for this time of year is 11 degrees celsius.
“Since our records commenced in 1908, only five previous occasions have reached 20 °C earlier than this year.”
The earliest of these was on March 9, 1948, when a temperature of 21.8 °C was recorded.
But this Thursday’s value is the warmest day so early in the year for 35 years, when 20.4 °C was attained on March 17, 1990.
Higher temperatures have been reached in March, but not until the end of the month.
In 1965, 22.8 °C was recorded on March 29, and in 2021 22.5 °C was recorded on March 30.
For information, visit: reading.ac.uk/meteorology
