Weather highlights: 2022 in summary

2022 has been quite the year weather-wise, from heatwaves to one final deep freeze, let's take a look at the top events of the year.

The year opened on a mild note, with 16.3C on the very first day of January in St James Park, London. However, there were still some episodes of snow for the northern half of the country, with 11cm of snow at Loch Glascarnoch, Scotland.

February was the 7th mildest February on record, with 17.2C in Hereford and Worcester on the 16th. It was also the 8th wettest since 1836, with thanks to Storm Dudley, Eunice and Franklin all arriving in force as the first and only three storms of the year.

High pressure was largely in charge through March, with an arctic blast to end the month and 10cm of snow accumulating in Durham, which started April on a chilly note. Settled weather made a return after the first week though.

A fairly quiet month for May, albeit with thunderstorms on several days. In June, a maximum temperature of 32.7C was recorded at Heathrow and Santon Downham on the 17th, paving the way for what was to come.

July was the record-breaker. 40.3C was recorded in Lincolnshire on the 19th, with exceptionally high temperatures across the board. It was also extremely dry across southern and eastern England, sparking wildfires and drought conditions.

August was another hot and broadly dry month, with 34.9C recorded at Charlwood in Surrey on the 13th, with things finally cooling down and turning more autumnal into September.

October and November was unseasonably mild, with temperatures 1.8C above average for the month for both. Autumn as a whole was also warmer than average, ranking in as the third warmest on record for the UK.

December then took us by surprise, as the only month to run colder than average throughout the year. As of the 28th, the Central England Temperature (a series of average temperatures represented by a central part of the UK) was 1.59C below average.

The entirety of the UK and Ireland was plunged into the freezer with sub-zero temperatures and snow dominating the picture.

2022 could still be a record-breaking year as the warmest on record so far, with provisional figures already suggesting so, despite the below-average December so far.