The splendid weather has to end

Although no records have been broken, this month will be remembered for many dry, sunny and pleasantly warm days, and of course the exceptional heat at the beginning of October. At the moment it is the driest October since 1978, although rain tonight looks like changing that. October 1978, despite being a dry month, was not particularly sunny, and although days were often warm, nights were sometimes quite chilly. The cool nights have been a feature of recent temperature statistics this October, and that has dragged down the temperature averages. Therefore, it seems unlikely that this month will hold on to it's 5th warmest ranking (since 1900) . However, the 4 mildest Octobers have all occurred during the last 16 years and Edwardian or Georgian London would have been very pleased with this mild, bright and smog-free month!

Sunny Weather in London

After 3 dull days the sunshine that arrived today was to be welcomed. If it wasn't for a few minutes of low cloud at either end of the day the sunshine could have been unbroken. The 1st of December is potentially the sunniest day of the month with the daylight fractionally longer than on any other December day. This potential is seldom realised of course, but in 1954, a mild and sunny December occurred, and there were 7 hours of sunshine on the opening day. Two years later it was also mild during December but there were only 9 hours of sunshine all month. The Clean Air Act of 1956 helped to reduce pollution in London and smog is now almost unheard of. Fog is also a rarity now in Greater London, and the dreadfully dismal months of the 19th and early 20th centuries are behind us. There will probably never be a repeat of December 1890 when much of London had less than 30 minutes of sunshine all month, and parts of the West End remained completely sunless.