Warm October keeps 2014 on course to be the hottest ever

  • Anglia
Sunrise at Cromer in Norfolk on 28 October 2014. Credit: Wendy Scott

This October has been among the hottest on record in East Anglia but there have been warmer ones in recent years. Based on provisional weather data, temperatures in the Anglia region have been more than 2°C higher than normal.

That means day time maximum temperatures have been peaking around 16-17°C while night time lows have been dipping to around 10°C on average.

The provisional mean temperature for the month was 13.3°C. A pretty impressive figure, which puts October 2014 among the top five warmest in East Anglia since 1910.

However October has been warmer in recent years - in 2001, 2005 and 2006.

The ten hottest Octobers in East Anglia between 1910 and 2013. Credit: Met Office

2014 is turning out to be quite a remarkable year and could yet be the hottest year ever recorded in East Anglia. Certainly the first ten months of the year has been the warmest January to October period recorded in the region.

Every month in 2014, except August, has been warmer than normal. If November and December hit at least average temperatures, 2014 will beat 2011 as the hottest year since East Anglian records started in 1910.

Of course, November and December could turn out to be chilly which would knock the temperature record off course. However 2014 is still likely to be among the top five warmest on record.

A sunny afternoon on Mundesley beach in Norfolk on 28 October 2014. Credit: Russell Sparkes

The highest temperature recorded in the Anglia region this October was 22.1°C at Writtle in Essex on 3 October.

Although it's been a wet October, it doesn't look like being as wet as last October. The Anglia region was 75 mm (3 inches) of rain, which is about 25% more than normal.

After three wet Octobers in a row - this has been the driest of the three.

Sunshine totals have been slightly below average although it was still the sunniest October for three years.

October sunrise at Wickham Skeith near Stowmarket in Suffolk. Credit: John Chester

Rainfall totals in the Anglia region in October 2014

  • 96 mm in Thurleigh near Bedford

  • 95 mm in Wattisham, Suffolk

  • 87 mm in Wittering, Cambridgeshire

  • 85 mm in Harpenden, Hertfordshire

  • 77 mm in Cromer, Norfolk

  • 67 mm in Cambridge

  • 61 mm in Woburn, Bedfordshire

  • 55 mm in Northampton

On 20/21 October the remnants of ex-Hurricane Gonzalo helped spark the UK's first big storm of the autumn with winds in the Anglia region gusting at 50-60 mph.

There were spectacular thunderstorms with forked lightning over Norfolk on 11 October.