December was a month of two halves over England and Wales – dull and dry until the 16th but changeable with many sunny days thereafter – whereas in Scotland the weather was very unsettled throughout. For many in western and northern Britain the main feature of the month’s weather was the white Christmas.

There were several short cold snaps but these were more than offset by lengthy mild interludes. As a consequence, mean monthly temperature was above the long-term average in all parts of the UK, though only marginally so in southeast England, East Anglia, and the south Midlands. The Central England Temperature, which incorporates both daytime and night-time readings, was 5.3C, just 0.2 degC above the average for the standard reference period 1971-90. Based on the CET, it ranked 40th warmest in the last 100 years. Scotland was 1.1 degC warmer than average, and Northern Ireland 0.7 degC warmer than average.

The last two weeks brought wide fluctuations in temperature. The night of the 18th/19th was easily December’s coldest, the mercury slumping to minus 14C at several sites in the Scottish highlands, and to minus 15.2C at Kinbrace in Sutherland. During this cold snap the temperature remained continuously below freezing for three consecutive days in some districts. Temperatures were not as low during the Christmas cold snap, with nothing below minus 8C anywhere in the UK. By contrast the last few days of December were abnormally mild, and the reading of 15.6C reported from Colwyn Bay on the 30th was only a fraction of a degree short of

The sun scarcely appeared in many southern and midland counties of England until the 16th, but the remainder of the month was very bright indeed. At Manston in east Kent the sun shone for just seven hours during the first half of December, but for 47 hours during the second half. Locally in eastern Scotland and northeast England it was the sunniest December since 1967 with a monthly aggregate of 70-80 hours.

© Philip Eden