April 2025: The
average temperature for April was 13.3°C. This was 2.7°C above the 30 year
average for Bristol and was the 3rd warmest since continuous records started
in 1891. The highest average temperature for April stands at 13.7°C in 2011.
Noteworthy was the average daily maximum temperature for the month of
18.9°C. This was the highest recorded for April and was 4.1°C above the 30
year average for the city of 10.6°C. The previous highest was 18.7°C in
2011. Rainfall was half the monthly average at 28.4 mm and there were 10
consecutive days when there was no recorded rainfall. The average wind speed
of 3.3 mph for the month was the calmest for the month since records began
in 2006.
Sunshine was above average for April at 53.4% which is 2% above the 20 year
average for the month.
The daily maximum temperature of 28.4°C on the 30th was the warmest April
day on record in Bristol starting in 1938. The previous record was 28.3°C in
2003.The highest daily mean temperature of 19.8°C on the 30th was the
highest since data started in Bristol in 1993. The lowest daily maximum
temperature of 13.1°C on the 18th was the highest since data started in
1960. The lowest daily mean temperature of 9.9°C on the 17th was the highest
since this data started in 1993.
Winter 20254/25: It
was the 3rd warmest winter in 133 years of data with regard to average
temperature of 7.8°C. Last year, 2023/24, was the 5th warmest winter in the
same period. The 30 year average temperature for Bristol is 5.9°C
(1990-2020) so this winter is 1.9°C above the average.
The winter rainfall total was 211.9 mm. The 30 year average for the city is
260.7 mm so 2024/25 winter was 82% of the average. There are 144 years of
rainfall data for Bristol starting in 1882 and it was the 65th driest since
this record started. During the winter there were 4 occasions of snow
falling but none was present at 09:00 hours.
Annual 2024: The annual rainfall for Bristol in 2024
was 1153.4 mm this makes it the 10th wettest year since this data started in
1853. The wettest year was 2012 with 1315.4 mm. The 30 year average for the
city is 913.8 mm so 2024 represents 126% of the average. The annual average
temperature for 2024 was 12.4°C. That made it the equal 4th warmest with
2020, and 0.8°C above the 30 year average of 11.6°C. Continuous average
temperatures for Bristol started in 1891. It was the dullest year from
records starting in 2005 with only 37% of the maximum sunshine recorded.
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 2024 Annual
summary is here: http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2024annual.htm
For the full monthly summary please go here: http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2025
April.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).