By Philip Eden

A cold snap from the 6th-11th was easily outweighed by warm conditions during the remainder of the month. The weather was very dry and sunny until the 23rd, but the last week was unsettled with heavy rain at times.

The Central England Temperature (CET) for April 2003 was 9.8°C, which is 1.7 degC above the mean for the standard reference period 1971-2000; it was the warmest April since 1987, and in the last 100 years only seven Aprils were warmer as measured by the CET, one had the same mean temperature, and 92 were colder. Daytime temperatures, averaged across the whole month, were 2 to 3 degrees above the long-term normal over most of the UK. Night-time temperatures, meanwhile, were around 1 degree above normal.

The mid-month heatwave was remarkable. The maximum of 27.4°C at Mortimer, Hampshire, on the 16th was the highest anywhere in the UK since 1949. Prestatyn's 27.0°C was the highest in Wales since 1894, while the reading of 26.9°C at Lochcarron, W