CLIMATE UPDATE – November 2013 was the sunniest November ever recorded

November 2013 was the sunniest November ever recorded in figures going back to 1929. The month was also a bit cooler and drier than average.

Average Temperature: 4.2°C which is 0.5°C below the long-term average (1971-2000).

Average Rainfall: 132.7mm, which is 20% drier than the long-term average.

Average Sunshine: 63.6hrs, which is 32% sunnier than the long-term average.

Dr Richard Dixon, Director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said,

“November wasn’t particularly warm but it was the sunniest November ever recorded with 63.6 hours of sunshine. Elsewhere in the world in November, Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines. It was the strongest storm ever to make landfall and killed more than 5,000 people.

“November saw a mass walk-out of campaigning and social groups at the annual United Nations’ climate conference because of the lack of progress on key issues. The conference should have been an important step on the way to setting new climate targets at the equivalent conference in Paris in 2015 but was dogged by controversy and low ambition from the start.”



The year so far

January was slightly warmer and drier than average but not very sunny. February was the 4th sunniest February on record and was cool and dry. March was exceptionally cold and dry, being the 5th coldest and 6th driest March on record. April was cooler and wetter than average but also very sunny, being the 10th sunniest April on record. May was close to average in temperature and sunshine but 50% wetter than average. June was slightly warmer than average. July was the 2nd warmest and 3rd sunniest July ever recorded in Scotland. August was dry with temperatures nearly a degree warmer than average. Summer 2013 was the 7th warmest summer and the warmest since 2006. September was drier and slightly warmer than the average. October was the warmest since 2006.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. Data from the Met Office http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/datasets with further analysis by Friends of the Earth Scotland.

2. The five warmest years in Scotland since records began in 1910 are 2006, 2003, 2007, 2004, 2005 (warmest first).

3. FoE Scotland is part of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, an alliance of development, environment and civil society groups aiming for tougher action to reduce emissions

http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/scotland