April 2026
SUMMARY OF THE METEOROLOGICAL READINGS AT DURHAM UNIVERSITY OBSERVATORY
April 2026
Temperatures (all temperatures in degrees Celsius; all averages 1991-2020)
Mean daily maximum: 14.2 Difference from average: +1.7
Mean daily minimum: 4.2 Difference from average: +0.2
Mean air temperature: 9.2 Difference from average: +0.9
Absolute maximum: 20.6 (8th)
Absolute minimum: -1.1 (14th)
Mean grass minimum: 2.3 Difference from average: +0.4
Absolute grass minimum: -3.6 (14th)
Mean concrete minimum: 4.4
Absolute concrete minimum: 0.0 (14th)
Number of ground frosts: 10 Difference from average: 0
Number of air frosts: 2 Difference from average: -1
Mean soil temperature at 300 mm depth: 10.9
Mean soil temperature at 1000 mm depth: 9.7
Rainfall (all totals in millimetres; all averages 1991-2020)
Total for the month: 21.2 Difference from average: -30.0
Percentage of the average: 41
Wettest day: 8.8 (15th)
Number of rain days (>0.1 mm): 12 Difference from average: -2
Number of wet days (=>1.0 mm): 5 Difference from average: -4
3-month total rainfall to 30th April 2026: 129.2 Difference from average: -10.5
6-month total rainfall to 30th April 2026: 393.0 Difference from average: +53.7
12-month total rainfall to 30th April 2026: 654.2 Difference from average: -26.0
Sunshine (all totals in hours; all averages 1991-2020)
Total for the month: 228.6 Difference from average: 74.3
Percentage of the average: 148.2%
Mean daily sunshine: 7.37 Difference from average: +2.23
Sunniest day: 12.3 (30th) Number of days with no recorded sunshine: 0
Note that the monthly sunshine total is now calculated from the UKMO E&NE regional total. Daily sunshine totals quoted here and in the data summary are uncorrected.
Wind (m/s; data from the West Building roof, Lower Mountjoy campus)
Average wind speed: 1.8
Maximum gust: 25.5 (5th, 01:45, W)
Pressure (mbar; data from the West Building roof, Lower Mountjoy campus)
Average: 1018.4
Maximum: 1034.2 (23rd, 08:15) Minimum: 986.9 (4th, 23:30)
Comments on April 2026
April was a warm, dry, sunny month but would have been even warmer but for many days with winds of an easterly component bringing cooler air off the North Sea. Even so, the mean maximum temperature was the 7th highest for April since 1844. The mean minimum air temperature was the equal 26th highest on record, so nights were relatively cooler than days. The mean air temperature was the equal 11th highest on record. There were just two air frosts, one below average, and the number of ground frosts was exactly average for the month.
The rainfall total for April was the 38th lowest in 177 years, so just into the bottom quartile. This was the driest month since last August. The 12-month total remains below average, but the 6-month average is still above average, as it has been since November; the 3-month total is just below average.
This was the third sunniest April on record since 1882. 1914 is the sunniest April on record (238.1 hours) but four of the six sunniest Aprils have been in the 2020s.
Emeritus Professor Tim Burt
Department of Geography
Durham University