High temperatures and sunny days left Leicestershire basking in the hottest April for 175 years.
Thermometers in parts of the county reached a sizzling 27.2C on April 23 – the warmest April day since 1870, when temperatures reached 28.3C on April 20.
The average temperature across the county last month was 12C – the highest since our records began.
Mercury weather expert Dave Mutton said the average temperature for April would usually be about 8.7C.
Dave, who has his own weather station in Cosby, said: "Well, it has certainly been a good month for breaking some weather records.
"The average temperature for April finished at 12C, which is way up on what it would usually be. That is an average of daytime and night-time temperatures.
"We enjoyed 228 hours of sunshine – records show that this is the most since 1914, when the county had 230 hours.
"It is quite rare that we see more than 200 hours in April – it has only happened seven times since records began in 1896."
Just 5.6mm of rain fell during the whole month, making it the driest April for 73 years.
The previous record was set in 1938, when just 1.8mm of rain fell.
Dave said: "This pleasant weather looks to continue through the next couple of weeks.
"Temperatures will drop a little, but it will still be nice."
Joyce Dunkley, 80, has been forecasting the weather for more than 40 years using the ancient folklore technique of observing the sunrise at the March equinox.
After seeing a spectacular sunrise on Sunday, March 20, from the top of a hill near her home in Market Harborough, Joyce said she was convinced there would be plenty of sunny days throughout the summer.
"I think we are in for a very nice summer indeed," she said. 作者: lemonbunny 时间: 2011-5-2 12:06