A long, cold winter. March was the coldest month of the "winter" - the first time since 1949. It was the coldest spring since at least 1962 and possibly 1891, depending on which norms one takes. Easter was the coldest on record. It was then the warmest and sunniest summer since 2006. Some severe storms and floods in December.

January. Overall just beneath average temperature, but with a very mild beginning and end sandwiching a very cold and snowy middle (10th to 25th). Many parts of upland Britain were beneath freezing from the 13th to 24th. The lowest temperature of the month was -13.2C at Buxton (near Norwich on the 16th). The highest temperature was at the start of the month, with 14.5 at Hawarden (Flintshire). Rainfall was also close to average, with 85.8 mm (95%), with most of it falling in the last week. It was a dull month, 15% less sunshine than average, but saved by a sunny final week making it the dullest since 2002. The only windy spells came with the mild and wet weather right at the end of the month.

February. A cool month, but not exceptionally so; nevertheless the coldest since 1996. The first half was unsettled, the second half anticyclonic and dry. There was a widespread snowfall on the 10th - 11th. The highest temperature of the month was 13.9C at Kinlochewe Wester Ross, on the 17th, and the lowest -10.0C at Aviemore on the 22nd. It was a dry month, with the average England and Wales rainfall total being 49.0 mm (75%), with most of the rain in the first fortnight. Sunshine totals were average in the south, but it was a sunny month in Scotland, with a particularly sunny second half.

March. Very cold; on the CET series, at 2.7C the coldest since 1883. (Although depending which measures you take exactly for the CET series, just since 1962 or 1892 - but very cold nevertheless!) It was the first time March was the coldest month of the "winter" (defined meteorologically as December, January, and February) since 1937. There were several periods of heavy snowfall and heavy showers, with for example heavy snow on the 11th and 12th disrupting the south coast and even the Channel Islands, which saw 12 cm of snow in total in gale force easterly winds. The month was let down by a relatively mild beginning; it reached 17.5C at Trawsgoed (Ceredigon) and 17.1C at Swanscombe (Kent) on the 5th. Amazingly there were 9 days where the temperature failed to climb above freezing at some official site in the UK. There was a slightly milder interlude before the easterlies returned later in the month, on the 19th. The bounday between the mild and cold air masses led to heavy snowfalls in north Wales, north England, Northern Ireland, and southern Scotland, particularly on the 22nd. There were snow drifts up to 6 m deep. The coldest day was the 24th, where the maximum was -3.3C at Lake Vyrnwy (Montgomeryshire). The coldest night of the month was the 11th, with -12.9 ºC at Kinbrace and Aboyne. Rainfall (mostly as snow!) totalled 73.9 mm, which is very close to the long-term average. Snow fell on up to 20 days in parts of the Midlands, north, and Scotland. Given it was an extremely easterly month, pulling in air from the cold continent, it was unsurprisingly a very dull month, averaging just 87 hours; in parts of the east it was the dullest March since 1984. Easter Sunday fell on 31 March, and it was the coldest four-day Easter holiday since 1883; the minimum was -12.5 at Braemar. In NW Scotland however the month was glorious!

April. Cold, but generally not as cold as 2012, except for parts of the west, where it was the coldest April since 1989. For the first 12 days the easterly winds that made March so cold and snowy continued to dominate, with snow still lying in parts of the country. There were some very cold days at the start of the month: the daytime maximum was only 0.5C at Lake Vyrnwy (Montgomeryshire) on the 1st. The lowest minimum was -11.2C at Braemar on the night of the 1st to 2nd. The weather changed however on the 13th as winds turned to a more southerly direction. The highest temperature of the month was 23.0C at St James Park, London, on the 25th. It was a dry month, except for the far north and west, with an England and Wales average of 37.0 mm (57% long-term average). It was particularly dry in the east and parts of NW England: Nantwich (Cheshire) had just 4.0 mm of rain. It was generally sunnier than average except for the SW. It was particularly sunny in western Scotland, with Tiree enjoying 238 hours of sunshine.

May. Cold; the coldest since 1996. After a dry and sunny and fairly warm first week it was mostly a northerly month. The warmest day of the month was the 7th, with 23.7C recorded at Crosby (Merseyside), and the coldest night the 1-2, with 4.8C at Tulloch Bridge It was somewhat wetter than average, with 75.0 mm of rain On the 14th, 72.3 mm fell at Pembrey Sands (Carmathenshire). Sunshine totals were about average.

June Dry but in other ways unremarkable. Temperatures were about average, with a maximum of 26.4C at Herstmonceux (East Sussex) on the 19th and 27.2C at Heathrow on the 29th. There was a minimum of -1.1C at Tulloch Bridge on the 1st. Average England and Wales rainfall was 39.0 mm (57%), making it the driest June month since 2006. It was particularly dry in parts of the east. Sunshine averaged 100% of the long-term mean.

July. A very hot month - the warmest since 2006, and the sixth hottest ever, with only 1921, 1976, 1983, and 2006 having been warmer. A notable heat wave with a prolonged period of high temperatures between Saturday 6 July and Wednesday 24 July when 28 C or more was recorded at one or more location on each of those 19 days. The last time the UK saw such a long period of hot weather was August 1997 (also 19 days).The highest temperature of the hot spell was on Monday 22nd, with 33.5C recorded at Heathrow and Northolt. The 17th was a hot day too, with 32.2C at Hampton (London). The 19th saw the highest temperature for Northern Ireland with 30.1C at Castlederg, Scotland with 29.7C at Cupar (Fife), and Wales, with 31.4C at Porthmadog. There were several warm nights, with the minimum of the night of the 22-23 being 20.7C at Heathrow. The end of the heatwave was particularly humid, followed by thunderstorms and widespread downpours, with some locations seeing more than 50 mm of rain in 24 hours. Overall rainfall averages 65.0 mm over England and Wales (98% average), but this was nearly wholly due to the wet final nine days. Goudhurst (Kent) saw just 6 mm. The wettest day was the 27th, which saw an average of 24mm, with Tideswell (Derbyshire) receiving 89 mm that day. It was the second sunniest July on record, since 2006, with 289 hours (142%), St Helier seeing 327 hours.

August. Overall warmer than average; the warmest August since 2004. The warmest day saw 34.1C on the 1st at London Heathrow, the hottest day since 2006. The lowest temperature was 0.2C at Kinbrace on the 5th. It was drier in average, but with some very wet days. Overall an average of 63 mm (83%) fell across England and Wales. 101 mm fell at Heybridge (Essex) on the 24th. Although sunshine levels were almost exactly average, it was nevertheless the sunniest August since 2007, showing what poor Augusts we've had recently.

September. Quite dry and on the cool and dull side. An early short, sunny heatwave, with 30.2C at Writtle (near Chelmsford, Essex) on Thursday 5th, which was the highest UK September temperature since 2006. The 6th was much colder, and wet in places too, with Durham seeing 45.6 mm of rain in 12 hours. Conditions were also bad at the North Yorkshire coast at Saltburn, which was hit by flash flooding, sweeping cars out to sea. 71.0 mm fell at Normandby (Middlesborough) and 64.0 mm at Redcar, much of it eleven hours. The minimum was -2.4C at Kinbrace (Sutherland) early on the 6th and Braemar early on the 26th. The lowest daytime maximum was 8.5C, also at Braemar on the 19th. Total England and Wales rainfall was 61.0 mm (79% of average). Sunshine came to 133.8 hours, 91% of average, with Jersey being the sunniest part of the UK.

October. Unsettled. Overall quite a mild month, with a cooler, dry second week. The highest temperature of the month was 23.0C at Skegness on the 8th, and the lowest -3.6C at Dalwhinnie on the 12th. Rainfall was 127% of the long-term average, with the south being particularly wet. It was a dull month with just 83% of long-term average, with northern England and central and eastern Scotland particularly dull. There was a notable destructive storm across the south on the 27-28th, nicknamed the St Jude's Storm.

November. Cold, dry, and sunny. The highest maximum was 16.5C at Exeter on the 6th, and the lowest minimum -8.1C at Braemar on the night of the 24-25th. The coldest spell was in the week starting the 19th. The maximum at Carter Bar (Roxburghshire) on the 22nd was +0.4C. England and Wales average rainfall for the month was 63 mm, 61% of the long-term average. Sunshine average was 86 hours, or 123%. The driest, sunniest place was Leuchars (Fife).

December. A wet, windy, stormy month with a great deal of flooding and some notable storm surges. Overall it was a very mild month, at 6.3C, but not as mild as 2006 in recent years. It was also a wet one, with the England and Wales average being 133 mm, 136% of normal. Tyndrum (Stirling) recorded 648 mm of rain during the month. Sunshine was 114% of average (60 hours). The pressure at Stornoway early on Christmas Eve was just 936.8 mbars, the lowest in Britain since December 1886. The highest temperature of the month was 17.0C at Llanfairfechan (Caenarfon) on the 11th, and the coldest night -6.0C at Dalwhinnie on the 6th. There was a notable surge along the North Sea coast on 5-6th. In the storm a gust of 93 mph was recorded at Altnaharra. The wettest day, the 23d, saw 155.4 mm fall at Postbridge, Dartmoor. Storms meant that many properties, particularly in Surrey, Sussex, and Kent, suffered serious flooding, and many places were without electricity for Christmas. There was another storm on 27 December, with gusts of 109 mph in Caernafon.