The weather in the UK this year has felt somewhat like Narnia: always winter, but never spring.
May bank holidays routinely prompt front page photos of Brighton beach, the crowd sunblock-slicked and pink.
But this hasn’t been the case this year. Instead, royal fans huddled under umbrellas along The Mall for the King’s coronation.
Spring has been, in the words of the Met Office, “notably dull”. It started with the wettest March in 40 years – the third wettest on record.
England was doused with 104% more rain than usual and the UK had a “duller than average” month in terms of sunshine hours.
Clouds over the south and west of the country meant Devon, Somerset, Hampshire and Wiltshire had their dullest March on record.
Scotland was brighter by contrast – its sunshine hours were closer to average and rainfall was only up 4%.
Then came April, when spring again failed to spring.
“Little in the way of consistent warmth” was the Met Office’s way of putting it, with wintry showers and a cold snap at the end of the month. There was a brief reprieve mid-month before the winter coats made a reappearance.
So why has the weather been so miserable?
The global weather patterns give us an indication, according to Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon.
The UK has been positioned between high pressure systems located over southern continental Europe and the far east of Europe.
As these high pressure systems interacted, they created periods of “cool, cloudy and wet conditions for the UK”, Mr Dixon said.
“These have generally either swept in from the Atlantic or slipped between the high pressure systems to reach the UK.”
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The sea has also been warmer than usual, which has “provided the necessary fuel for cloud to develop”.
“There’s still some time to go so it’s too early to be suggesting where it might end up in terms of records,” he said.
One thing was certain though: “It has been much duller than average so far.”
