Warning!
I have run this weather station for over 30 years. In that time the
average annual temperature has risen by just under 1.0°C. This in undeniable
as I don't have any evidence that the equipment is failing.
Instead of having compassion, caring and intelligence in dealing with this
burgeoning issue, most of us seem to be stuck in the conditioning of
mainstream politics which thinks the only way out of everything is economic
growth. We have trapped ourselves in this system because we too are mainly
greedy for more and more, as if it is the saviour of everything. It isn't!
Nature can do without us, but we cannot do without nature. Until we care
about nature, have compassion toward other people and implement intelligent
solutions (i.e. without nationalism), we will continue to destroy the planet
and show ill will to one another. The time to become aware is always now.
Doing the weather for the last 30 years plus, is like watching one aspect of
the slow motion global car crash.
Barry. August 2025
____________________________________________________________________________
February 2026:
With an average temperature of 8.6°C it was
the 3rd warmest February since records began in 1891. 2024 was the warmest
with an average temperature of 8.9°C, 2026 was 2.6°C above the 30 year
average for the city. The rainfall for the month of 136.1 mm was 205.0% of
the 30 year average for Bristol
of 66.4 mm. Much of the rainfall was light at 0.2mm per 10 minute interval
and there was only one day when no rainfall was recorded.
It was a dull month with 3.4% below the average of the maximum sunshine
value. Pressure was low too and with an average pressure for the month of
1001 mb it was the second lowest for the month since 994 mb in 2014. No
frost or snowfall was recorded in February 2026.
Winter 2025/26: It
was the equal 7th warmest winter (with 2021/22) in 134 years of data for
Bristol. With an average temperature of 7.4°C it was 1.5°C above the 30
yearaverage temperature for the city. The winter rainfall total was 397.6
mm. The 30 year average for the city is 260.7 mm so 2025/26 winter was 153%
of the average. It was the 4th wettest winter in 145 years of data. All four
of the wettest winters have occurred in the last 31 years.
There were 7 days of air frost resulting in 43 hours of below 0°C
temperatures. No snowfall was recorded this winter.
Annual 2025:
The annual average temperature for 2025
was 13.1°C. That made it the warmest since continuous records began in 1891
and 1.5°C above the 30 year
average of 11.6°C. The annual rainfall for Bristol in 2025 was 791.1 mm this
makes it the 51st driest year since this data started 173 years ago in 1853.
The 30 year average for the city is 913.8 mm so 2025 represents 87% of the
average.
To
view a full report of the Bristol Annual Weather report 2023 and a discussion
of trends etc click here. This is a Word created .doc
document which is produced annually for a Bristol Naturalist Society
publication. Please acknowledge the source if quoting any of the contents.
Thank you.
The 2025 Annual
summary is here: http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2025annual.htm
For the full monthly summary please go here: http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2026
February.htm
The
Meteorological site is situated in an urban housing area approximately one
mile to the south of the Centre of Bristol.
This area is in a district called Totterdown.
Statistical correlations with the Bristol
Meteorological Office site, that was
less than two miles to the North and was
situated on top of a City Centre office block, were generally good with
rainfall and barometric data particularly close.
The site of the station is approximately 34 metres above sea level with the
manual instruments mounted in a Stevenson screen. The screen is sited
centrally in a small concreted garden area. A Snowdon
rain gauge is mounted correctly in the ground but does not have the full open
space required around it. A Davis
Vantage Pro2 Plus automatic weather station (AWS) was
added in May 2005 and this is mounted 4 feet above a concrete shelter. The wind
data is gathered automatically from a Davis
Vantage Pro2 Plus anemometer which is sited 3.3 metres (10 feet) above the
house top.
Manual observations are still taken at approximately 09:00 hours GMT every
day for rainfall and cloud cover. Rainfall manually recorded in the Snowdon rain gauge is entered for the previous day. The
wind data is constantly logged and automatically reset at 24:00 hours GMT
every day (in the summer BST -1 hour. The Davis rainfall tipping bucket was recalibrated in November 2005 and is now
consistently under 3% under recording (an improvement from installation in
May 2005 when 10% was more
typically the norm).
Since the arrival of the Davis
Vantage Pro2 Plus equipment in May 2005 temperatures, humidity and barometric
pressure are recorded from the new equipment. These figures will be more
accurate and will be taken at exactly 09:00 GMT (in the summer BST -1 hour)
as the data is now logged to a computer.
By default the Davis
equipment records every parameter for the 24 hour period 00:00 to 23:59 BST
or GMT. Data analysis will enable manual data extraction of temperatures and
rainfall to 09:00 GMT (adjusted in the summer). Due to the 0.2 mm (tipping
bucket) measurements of precipitation recorded by the Davis equipment the
Snowdon rain gauge will still be used due to its greater accuracy (see
above).