March weather

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March is the most variable month for weather. If one day it is warm and balmy, watch out: tomorrow it may be snowing.

Wintry weather is possible right up to the end of the month, but it is also a rare March which does not have some shirtsleeve days with temperatures in the high teens. It makes a massive difference whether the sun is shining, or from which direction the wind is blowing.

As Charles Dickens says in chapter 15 of Great Expectations:

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when it is summer in the light and winter in the shade”.

That being said, there is a tendency for temperatures to warm as the month goes on, and by its end, it is usually clear that winter is decisively over (2013 and 2018 being notable exceptions, as was 2016 to a much lesser extent: see below).

When the sun does shine, you shed hat, coat and pullover in quick succession. The sky is a deep blue, the birds all seem to be singing and you feel that winter is finally gone and six months of warmer weather stretch before you. Suddenly it is warm enough to sit outside a pub to eat, or to have a picnic on a hillside. You lie down on the grass for the first time since October. By the end of the month, scarves and gloves are generally no longer needed, though you keep them handy just in case: the same goes for the central heating, which tends to get turned off, and then quickly turned back on again.

Wet and windy

In the early part of this century there seemed to be a trend for March to get sunnier and drier (see below) but it now looks as if climate change might be having the opposite effect, producing fairly wet and windy weather.

The most notable example in recent years was 2023, when after a week of high pressure, producing half a centimetre of quickly melting snow on the 8th, westerlies set in and dominated for the remainder of the month. Nearly every day for the rest of March saw some rain, which was all the more surprising after an almost completely dry February and second half to January. In all, the south east saw more than twice its normal rainfall, the wettest March since 1981. Only one day in the whole month - the 2nd - was sunny, though there was some sunshine - often fleeting sunny intervals - on 15 other days. Apart from the first week, temperatures were relatively mild, with daytime highs of between 9 and 15 degrees.

In 2024 the weather was changeable throughout the month. After a Scandinavian high from 3 to 8 March, which produced largely cloudy weather, lows were in charge for the rest of the month - sometimes westerlies and sometimes static lows to the south or west. The result was a lot of cloud, though some sun, usually fleeting. Two days when it was warm, sunny and spring-like were the 20th and the 30th, with temperatures on the former rising to 19 degrees and on the latter to 16 degrees, but mostly it felt fairly cool.

March 2019 saw westerlies in charge for the first 17 days, bringing a classic mix of cloud, showers and sunshine (the latter usually in the morning), with daytime maximums in the 11-13 degree range. This was a stark contrast to the last week of February when it had been sunny with temperatures of up to 21 degrees. There was then a fairly cloudy week, with similar temperatures, due to high pressure to the south west. Only when this moved over the UK in the last week of the month were there some proper sunny days at last. Cold winds initially kept the temperatures in the low teens, but on the 29th and 30th they surged to 18 degrees and 20 degrees, before falling back to 12 degrees on the last day of the month.

March 2020 saw westerlies in the first half, with mixed sun and cloud and a bit of rain, replaced by high pressure in the second. This latter period included a week of cloudless skies from the 21st to the 27th. However, a nagging east breeze took the edge of temperatures, so that only on the 24th did temperatures rise to 16 degrees. Otherwise it was just 10 to 13 degrees, though out of the breeze this felt pleasantly warm. Under northerly winds, and with more cloud, temperatures rose no higher than 7 degrees on the 29th, however.

In 2021 high pressure in various positions kept winds for the most part in the north, north west or north east, with plentiful cloud and only occasional sunny days when the warmth of the sun was apparent in sheltered spots. Temperatures hovered mostly between 8 and 14 degrees, until the last three days of the month brought summer-like temperatures.

In 2016 the last three days of Easter (26 to 28 March) were dominated by strong westerlies, culminating in "Storm Katie" in the early hours of Easter Monday, which left a sunny but blustery and cold day in its wake.

Years when it was sunny

Years when March was relatively benign, with plenty of sunny days throughout the month, include 2000 to 2003, 2009, 2011 and 2012. In 2011 this was a real tonic after four particularly grey winter months. March 2003 was so dry that the countryside was looking very parched and unhappy by the end of the month, but in the other years the relatively small amounts of rainfall were spaced well enough to keep things green. In 2012, for example, there was rain from the 3rd to the 7th, and 17th to 18th in an otherwise sunny month, which was enough to keep the countryside looking springlike. After two relatively dry winters, a hosepipe ban was imposed, however.

While in the early part of the month even sunny days can still be quite cold – 6 or 7 degrees – by mid month they can get positively warm. The transition is often very rapid. In 2005, for example, temperatures went from a few degrees to 20 degrees in the third week, though wintry weather returned for the end of the month, as it did in 2004. In 2008, the temperature had reached the mid teens within a week of a truly Arctic Easter on 21-24 March.

In 2022 high pressure set in after a wet and gloomy first half, and while initially there was a cool northerly breeze, by the 21st it ceased and temperatures rose as high as 20 degrees. There were ten consecutive sunny days (from the 17th to the 26th). But on the 31st a cold northern airflow returned, reducing the daytime maximum to just 7 degrees and producing a few snow flurries: this lasted into the first three days of April.

By contrast in 2014 it was the first half of the month that was sunny and warm under the influence of a continental high, with temperatures rising rapidly from 9 degrees on the 1st to 17 degrees by Saturday 8 March and 20 degrees the following weekend. The second half was cooler, with westerly winds, some rain - though also reasonable sunshine - and maximum temperatures 13 degrees at best and as low as 8 degrees on the 26th. The last weekend of the month - 29 and 30 March - then returned to 20 degree sunshine.

2017 was a respectable March with nine days in the last two thirds of the month reaching 15 to 16 degrees or above (17 degrees on the 11th and 31st, 19 degrees on the 15th, 22 degrees on the 30th). Temperatures were otherwise in low double figures, with no real cold snaps. Cold east winds - the result of a high over the north of England - took the edge off temperatures from 21 to 25 March - but there was no doubt that spring was in the air from mid month onwards and 25-27 March (Sunday to Monday) were particularly glorious.

Other years when March had a good second half include 2012, when there were near cloudless skies for the whole second half of the month, with temperatures reaching up to 23 degrees, and 2021, when after the rather cool month described above, temperatures soared to 18 degrees on the 29th and 24 degrees on the 30th. 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2010 and 2011 also saw relatively mild ends to March.

Winter returns

While climate change may be making them rarer, unwelcome returns to wintry weather are not unknown in March, the most notorious example in recent years being 2018. The month started with the "beast from the east", a week of intensely cold east winds from Siberia from 24 February to 2 March. This produced 10 centimetres of snow in Kent, Sussex and Surrey on 27 February, though only around 1cm in London, followed by 3cm overnight across the south east on the 28th. Temperatures then recovered, reaching double figures by the 7th and up to 13 degrees on the 10th, a Saturday. The blocking high over Scandinavia that had caused the snow remained, however, keeping the weather dominated by static lows to north west or south west.

Then, just when more springlike weather seemed to be appearing, with a lovely day of sunshine and cloud and temperatures of 14 degrees on 16 March, the beast struck again. The weekend of 17-18 March was bitterly cold (highs of minus two degrees), with easterly winds and light snow. Once again there was a slow recovery, but partly sunny days from 20 to 22 March were tempered by cold winds and the month ended with cold cloudy days and temperatures of just 7 degrees. This weather which persisted throughout Easter (30 March to 2 April), which saw a grey Saturday and Sunday and wet Friday and Monday.

The coldest March in recent times, however - the coldest since 1962, though with an even colder finish than its predecessor - was 2013. The month started reasonably enough, with temperatures of 7 to 8 degrees, and on the 3rd to the 5th there was sunshine - very welcome after a grey and cold January and February. On the 5th temperatures soared to 17 degrees in London and 14 degrees more widely. But on 10 March strong easterly winds set in, caused by a massive high over Greenland, and temperatures plummeted to 2 degrees by day, and -2 or -3 by night, with windchill factors making it feel even colder. On the 11th and 12th there was as much as 10cm of snow in Kent and Sussex, stranding motorists in their cars, and on the 13th there were snow flurries in London.

The whole rest of the month was then bitterly cold, with unrelenting easterly winds, endless grey skies and temperatures quite often only 1 or 2 degrees at best. Spring was put completely on hold, and by the end of the month the countryside still looked no different from how it had looked in February. All birdsong had ceased. On 22-23 March there was major snowfall in the Midlands and North of England, causing drifts over two metres deep in places, and in London and the south east 2-4cm fell on the 23rd, remaining on the ground for several days. Even after the 27th, when there was finally some sun, the easterly wind never relented, and temperatures reached no higher than 5 degrees by day and below zero at night. As late as 4 April temperatures were just 3 degrees by day.

By contrast in 2010, after the coldest winter in 30 years and a frosty but sunny start to March, the weather turned wet and windy in the second half, with temperatures in the mid teens. In both the famous cold winters of 1963 and 1947, March also saw a thaw, with a rapid increase in temperatures before its end.

Other winters when cold easterly and northerly winds dominated, included 2005 and 2006, these conditions lasting until 13 March in 2005 and 23 March in 2006. Ten centimetres of snow fell on parts of Kent on 2 March 2005, and on 4 March snow settled in north London. In both years the cold was so fierce that spring was completely put on hold, with none of the usual blossoms and flowers coming out.

In 2007, despite the month starting and finishing with temperatures of 17-18 degrees, there was a sharp cold period from 18-25 March which produced snow on the 22nd. In 2008 Easter fell at this time (21-24 March, the earliest Easter since 1913) and saw northerly winds, snow flurries (some even settling in the Weald), hailstorms and temperatures as low as any in the winter.

March 2016 was also rather cool, delaying the onset of spring despite a very early start to it due to an exceptionally mild December and early January. There were 21 days in the month when the temperature got no higher than the upper single digits, and northerly or easterly winds dominated until the 18th. There was significant snow in the Midlands and North on 1 March, but it did not reach the south east. However the month also had ten sunny days, with temperatures reaching a respectable if unspectacular 12-13 degrees on five of them and 15 degrees on 25 March (Good Friday).

Mud dries, long evenings start

Even at the start of the month it is light till after 6pm, meaning day length has more or less ceased to be an issue. The clocks going forward on the last weekend of the month still rather take one by surprise, however: can it really now be light until almost 8pm? But yes, it can, and this is the start of five and a half wonderful months when this will be true.

It starts to be dry enough to sit on the ground, due to the increased temperature of the sun, which increases evaporation, and growing plants, which suck moisture out the ground. In January, even if the weather is dry the ground stays wet. By the end of March if the weather is dry for a few days one can sit on the grass in the park, though heavy rain still has the power to turn paths muddy and the turf soggy well into April, and gloopy spots remain in woods or shady hollows.

Sometimes rain means paths get wetter rather than drier during the month. In 2023, for example, the ground was almost completely dry in February due to a lack of rain, but regular downpours throughout the last three weeks of March produced a complete quagmire, with some flooding, by the month's end. Likewise, in 2008 the ground started the month dry after a very sunny February but after stormy weather and a cold snap the month ended with mud of a midwinter intensity.

Hayfever sufferers get reminded of their ailment, if they were not already reminded of it in February. Tree pollen – and in particular hazel, alder, yew and goat willow – is the cause of the sneezing and itching.

The sea is at its coldest in March - typically only six degrees off the south coast of England.

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