As we pass through November’s mid-way point, the weather has never been far from many people’s minds with a notably cold and wet start to the month for some.

With statistics up to 17 November, the wet start to the month is very clear to see for some parts of the UK. Overall, the UK has already seen 68% of its average November rainfall. However the distribution of this rainfall has not been even across the UK.

England has been the wettest UK country compared to average seeing 90% of its monthly average already. Nottinghamshire has been the wettest county compared to the long-term 1981-2010 average with 189% of average rainfall (107.8mm). Conversely, western and northern Scotland has been significantly drier compared to its average, with just 17% (23.5mm) of November average rain falling in Shetland so far this month, and Lerwick being the driest location in the whole UK. The distribution of rainfall can be seen in the map below.

Map showing rainfall compared to 1981-2010 average 1-17 November 2019

On a more local level, our weather station in Sheffield has already surpassed its autumn record, with 440.8 mm of rainfall this autumn so far. The previous record was set in 2000 with 425.2mm.

Aberdeenshire, Berwickshire, Buckinghamshire, Derbyshire, East Lothianshire, Fifeshire, Forfarshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Kincardineshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Radnorshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire have all had more than their average monthly totals of rainfall by 17 November.

The cold start is also evident with the UK mean temperature (5.3°C) -0.9°C below the long term 1981-2010 average for November.

Scotland has been the coldest when compared to the long-term average, -1.6°C below average. Sutherland is the historic county with the lowest temperature compared to the 1981-2010 average where it has been -2.3°C below average through November so far. Central and eastern England are closest to average mean temperature.

Map showing mean temperature compared to 1981-2010 average 1-17 November 2019

As well as being dry compared to average, Shetland has also been notably sunny. Up to  17 November, Lerwick had already recorded 44.8 hours of sunshine, easily surpassing the average for the whole of November (33.8 hours). To compare this to a location in the south east, Manston in Kent has only recorded 47.2 hours. This is significant considering that Shetland has a little over one hour less daylight compared to Kent at this time of year.

Map showing sunshine hours compared to 1981-2010 average 1-17 November 2019