Electricity North West weather watch - April
Electricity North West weather watch - April
The weather can have a big impact on the local power network. We work hard to make the network as resilient as possible by investing more than £130m every year, but there are some things we can’t control.
As clocks went forward last month we have enjoyed more mild weather, however back in 2013 it was a different picture as we battled to restore power to almost 2,000 customers due to severe snow in Cumbria.
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Look Back: The past winter and March
Looking back at the past winter as a whole, high pressure frequently influenced the UK's weather, often located overhead or just to the south of the UK. While this pattern resulted in a drier than normal winter over the North West region, the location of the high pressure areas meant that we rarely experienced winds from a cold north or north-easterly direction. Winter storms and gales were infrequent, but of course southern parts of the North West did get impacted by 'Storm Doris' on 23rd February.
March started on a cool and unsettled note, with the north Atlantic jet stream tracking further south than normal, right across the UK. Sleet and snow fell at times over the Pennines, but lowland areas avoided this and experienced frequent spells of rain. As the low pressure track lifted back northwards across the UK during the second week, wet weather gave way to milder, sunnier and spring-like weather for a time. Brisk westerly winds and spells of rain swept the region again between 16th and 21st March, before a colder spell between 21st and 24th March produced some snowfall over the high Pennines. A change back to high pressure brought a fine spell of weather over the weekend of 25th and 26th March, but the month is ending on a mild and unsettled note.
Four years ago, late March 2013 brought some very different weather, with a sustained cold easterly wind and widespread heavy snowfall and blizzards across parts of north Wales, northern England and south-west Scotland during 22nd to 24th March. The cold weather lasted well into April in 2013 and the weather pattern was believed to have been triggered by a (temporary) collapse of the wintertime stratospheric polar vortex.
Look forward: April
The weather through the upcoming few weeks will be determined by large pressure changes around western Europe, and as such there will be a fair amount of week-to-week variability through April. The month will begin on a largely dry and settled note as high pressure dominates across much of the UK, with the strengthening spring sunshine giving several warm days and above normal temperatures. There may still be a few chilly nights under clear skies though, perhaps with a slight frost on higher ground in the North West.
A breakdown in high pressure is likely in the second week of April, allowing a few Atlantic depressions to track closer to the UK. As such, it is expected to turn wetter and breezier towards the middle part of the month and over Easter. A more frequent incursion of north-westerly winds will also reduce temperatures closer to average on a handful of days.
High pressure should return after mid-April to give another week or so of pleasant spring weather and above normal temperatures, with any strong winds or heavy rain keeping well to the west. However, the end of April could well see another period of unsettled conditions developing with some early hints of May being low pressure dominated around the British Isles.
From Meteorologist Nick Prebble and Matt Dobson from MeteoGroup@WeatherCast_UK
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