Sunniest April on record, Met Office confirms

Last month was the sunniest April on record for the UK, the Met Office has confirmed.

The country received an average of 224.5 hours of sunshine, comfortably beating the previous record of 211.9 hours set in 2015.

The Isle of Wight was the sunniest location, clocking up 279 hours of sunshine during the month.

It was also the fifth warmest April on record, with a mean temperature of 9.1C across the UK.

The warmest April on record was in 2011, when the mean temperature was 10.7C.

Last month was a dry one for the country, with the UK receiving only 40% of average April rainfall.

It was the third driest April on record for Scotland, while a number of counties in north-east England and eastern Scotland saw their driest April.

The weather station at Morpeth in Northumberland had its driest April in 126 years of recording.

Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre, said: “Although April 2020 will be remembered for being the sunniest April on record in England and the UK, along with the sunshine, the month was largely dry with mean temperatures well above average for most parts of the UK.

“The UK climate is warming, and it is notable that in a Met Office series from 1884 the Aprils of 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2020 are all in the top 10 warmest.”

Met Office records on sunshine date back to 1929. Records for temperature date back to 1884, while rainfall records date back to 1862.