Mild and wet: February was the warmest since records began in England and Wales

England and Wales have seen their warmest February on record, while temperatures across the country were above average, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.

February was also a wet month, particularly so in southern England, which had its wettest February according to records dating back to 1836, with more than twice the average rainfall.

It was also the wettest February for East Anglia and parts of the Midlands and South Wales. Warm across the south

The average temperature for England was 7.5C beating the previous record of 7C set in February 1990.

Wales saw an average mean temperature at 6.9°C for the month, marginally ahead of 1998’s record of 6.8°C.

For the UK as a whole it was the second warmest February in records that go back to 1884. The UK’s ten warmest Februarys in a series from 1884 now include 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2019.

The mild and wet weather was due to frequent Atlantic low pressure systems bringing spells of wet and windy weather and a mild southwesterly airflow.

ITV Weather Presenter Nick Miller analyses the preliminary findings from the Met Office

Winter 2024

The Met Office has also released provisional winter statistics showing it was England's second warmest winter and the third warmest in Wales. For the UK as a whole it was the fifth warmest.

Five of the UK's top ten warmest winters on record have all happened since 2014.

It has also been a wet winter with the Met Office saying it ranks as the UK's eighth wettest.

The Met Office says these figures fit expectations of warmer, wetter winters for the UK due to climate change.

“February has perhaps been the quietest month of the winter, without any further named storms, whereas Gerrit in December and Henk and Isha in January all caused significant weather impacts,” said Met Office Senior Scientist Mike Kendon.

“Despite a cold spell in in the north in the first half of the month, the main theme of February is how persistently mild and wet it has been, particularly in the south and this is largely due to the influence of Atlantic low-pressure systems bringing a predominant mild, south-westerly flow. This mild, wet theme is also true of winter overall.” Five named storms

Winter 2023/4 also saw five named storms – Elin, Fergus, Gerritt, Henk, Isha, Jocelyn.

Storm Jocelyn was the 10th named storm and only the second time in a UK storm season that the letter J has been reached in the alphabet.

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