The weather in March this year should be headed sunny and
dry. Some say the driest since March 1953. I hadn’t started taking
records then, so I cannot validate that statement! Certainly, with a
total of 23.1mm (less than one inch in old money) it was the driest
month of any since April 2007. In other respects March this year
compared very well with that of 2009, which was also very sunny, and had
recorded the highest maximum temperature of any this millenium of 18.9C.
This figure was equalled this year on 15th. and 23rd. and surpassed on
24th. with 19.2C, and 25th. with 19.5C.

March two years ago was twice as wet as this year, and the dryness this year emphasised a big range of daily temperature; an average daily maximum well over 13C and an average nightly minimum just above 1C. Such a low reading was mirrored
by 11 air frosts, and an absolute low of -5.5C on the 8th. This value is
not exceptional for Pottlelake; there was -7.1C early in March 2004. The
diurnal range of over 12 degrees is quite remarkable so early in the
year, and overall March turned out to be well under 0.1C milder than
February. Overall March was milder than last year at 7.1C, but not as
mild as 2009 at 7.5C or 2007 at 8+C.

Peter ,Pottlelake