A very wet year - in the top ten since 1910. A new record high for November.

January. Overall temperatures were about average, although Scotland was slightly cooler, but a very mild spell between the 6th and the 14th was offset by a cold spell after that, with snow and frost. Temperatures ranged from 16.5C at Exeter on the 9th to -12.5C at at Tulloch Bridge and Loch Glascarnoch on the 19th. On the 19th the maximum at Loch Glascarnoch was only -5.6C. Rainfall over the UK was pretty much average, England and Wales seeing 96 mm (101%). It was though a very sunny month, with an average of 77.4 hours (163%); only 2001 and 2003 were sunnier. It was particularly dry and sunny in east England.

February. Overall temperatures were about average. The first week was cold, and the final week mild. The highest temperature of the month was 15.6C at Fyvie Castle (Aberdeenshire) on the 17th, and the lowest minimum -10.8C at Dalwhinnie. It was quite a dry month, with 61.8 mm (61%) average for England and Wales. It was wettest in the NW. It was very sunny: the sunniest since 2008, with 95.5 hours (117%).

March. Slightly warmer than average overall, but with some cold snaps. The highest temperature of the month was 17.5C at Murlough (County Down, Northern Ireland) on the 17th, and the lowest -7.4C at Aboyne (Aberdeenshire) on the 14th. It was a dry month: England and Wales average was 41.0 m, just 40% of the average. Goudhurst (Kent) recorded 3.8 mm. The wettest day was the 6th. It was also very sunny, with an average of 146.2 hours (134%). There were gales on the 31st.

April. Warm, sunny and dry: the third sunniest and third warmest in the last century in England and Wales, and the sunniest in the UK. Mostly it was an anticyclonic and westerly month, although there was a northerly cold snap towards the end of the month, when it became much more unsettled. The highest temperature of the month was 25.2C at St Helier (jersey) on the 15th, although there were some high temperatures across the country, including early high maxima in east and NE Scotland. The coldest temperature was -8.0C at Katesbridge (Co. Down) on the 27th. Average total England and Wales rainfall was just 23.2 mm (29%). The England and Wales sunshine average was 222 hours, 149%; the UK saw 212 hours, 7 hours more than the previous record of 205 in 1942.

May. Quite cool and wet. Daytime temperatures were particularly low, the lowest since 1996, with nowhere exceeding 24C all month long. The highest temperature of the month was 23.8 °C at Faversham (Kent) on the 11th, and the lowest was -5.6 °C at Tulloch Bridge on the 1st. Rainfall was 156% of average. It was particularly wet in the west and north.

June. Temperatures overall were about average, but it was a dry month, with just 56% of the long-term average rainfall. There was low pressure at the start of the month, so it was unsettled and windy. There were warm spells from the 4th to the 13th and in the final week. The highest temperature of the month was 32.5C at Heathrow on 30th, and the lowest -1.9C at Resallach (Sutherland) on the 14th). It was quite a sunny month, with 125% of average sunshine. Only 7.8 mm of rain fell at Northolt (London) all month.

July. A cyclonic month, slightly cooler than average. However the record July maximum of 2006 is beaten, with 36.7C at Heathrow on the 1st. The "heatwave" is limited to one day, as a narrow plume of hot air dragged up from southern Spain covers the southeast. There are thunderstorms elsewhere. It is the new hottest day at Wimbledon too, with 35.7C beating the 34.6C set in 1976. It was a very wet month, with an average of 87.3 mm (131%). The wettest day was the 17th, with 88.3 mm falling at Cambridge Botanic Gardens in a thunderstorm. There were records of large hail across the country the same day. Sunshine was close to average (188 hours average, 99%).

August. Cool and unsettled, with some heavy rain and thunderstorms, particularly in the second half of the month. A very wet month, particularly in the south; it was the wettest August in SE England since 1977. Mostly a dull month. The highest temperature recorded was 30.9C at Kew and Gravesend on the 22nd.

September. A mixed month, with some fine anticyclonic spells in the second and final weeks. Overall it was cooler than average, particularly in the SE. Rainfall was about average in the SE, but dry in the NW. It was a sunny month. The highest temperature was 24.0 at Braemar on the 30th, and the lowest was -1.3C also at Braemar on the 30th.

October. A largely anticyclonic month, but more unsettled at the end. About average temperature, but a dry month, with only 57% of the average rainfall, making it the driest October since 2007. It was particularly dry in the west and north. There were some spells of heavy rain though 5-7th causing flooding in Cornwall and Yorkshire. It was also sunny in the NW but duller than average in the SE. The highest temperature of the month was 22.7 at Braemar on the 1st, and the lowest was -5.0C on the 17th, also at Braemar.

November. A very mild month. The month started with a new record high for November! Trawscoed near Aberystwyth recorded 22.3C on the 1st, in a very mild southerly airstream combined with the Fohn effect. Generally the month was SW with little frost. With a CET of 8.2 (+2.0C), the month was the third mildest November in the last century (following 2011 and 1994.) It was particularly warm in the south. It was a wet month with 145% of average rainfall, and it was particularly wet in NW Wales, NW England, and SW Scotland. The lowest temperature of the month was -5.6C at Benson (Oxon.) on the 22nd. The month ended with a cold, snowy snap in the north.

December. An exceptionally mild month - phenomenally so, with a CET of 9.7, a phenomenally high figure, 1.6C higher than any other December, higher than most Novembers and all Marches, and a UK mean of 7.9, easily (by 1.0C) warmer than any previous December on record. Many areas saw no frost at all month. It was also the wettest Decembers on record, particularly in the west and north, and indeed the wettest of any month on record, with provisional figures of 191% of rainfall overall all for the UK. Parts of Snowdonia may have recorded over a metre of rain (40"), and there were some new record monthly rainfall totals: for the K (1396 mm at Crib Goch in Snowdonia - that's nearly 55") and Ireland (943 mm at Gernapeka, Co. Cork). Given the totals, it is not surprising that there was some catastrophic flooding across the north and west. Following very heavy rain on Storm Desmond on 5 December, there is severe flooding in the north, particularly in Cumbria. A new rainfall record for 24 hours in any month is set on the 6th, of 341.1 mm, at Honister Pass. There is more flooding in the north, particularly in Lancashire and the south of Scotland, with Storm Eva, on Boxing Day, with many rivers breaking their banks. Storm Frank brought yet more warm wet tropical air with flooding in the north right at the end of the year. In the 9-9 rain day, 264.4 mm fell at Thirlmere in Cumbria; 341.4 mm fell at Honister Pass in Cumbria in 24 hours up to 6 pm on the 5th, setting a new UK 24 hour record. A maximum of 17.2C was recorded at Teignmouth in Devon and at Achnagart and Plockton in Highland on the 16th. A gust of nearly 100 mph was recorded at the Needles on the 31st.