U.K. Start to the Year Is One of the Sunniest, Driest on Record

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. started 2022 with one of the driest and sunniest months of January on record. 

England had its ninth driest January in data going back to 1862, with just 38% of average rainfall, the Met Office said in a blog post. “Despite a late-month flurry of rain in the north, January has seen less than half the average rainfall for the month for the U.K.,” the national weather service said.

No other year in the last 22 years has been in the top 10, which makes this January particularly remarkable, said Tyler Ros, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. “Elsewhere across Europe, it probably will end up being one of the driest as well,” he added.

Sunshine particularly hit the north and east of England, with the regions of North Yorkshire and Derbyshire feeling much of the light, the Met Office said. The U.K. started the year with the warmest New Year's Day on record, with a record 16.3 degrees Celsius recorded in London's St James's Park.

Scotland experienced its sixth-warmest January on record, with mild conditions less dominant further south in the U.K. This January, England saw more air frosts -- when air temperature falls to or below the freezing point of water -- than Scotland did for only the third time in 30 years.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.