May in St Albans and Harpenden is sunniest on record
Rothamsted Research, which collates Harpenden's weather data. Photo: Danny Loo. - Credit: Archant
The weather in St Albans and Harpenden during May was unusually warm, dry and sunny for the time of year, according to data from Rothamsted Research.
The month was the second driest since records began in 1853, with only 3.2mm of rain – 51.49mm below average.
There were only two days with 0.2mm or more of rain, and the heaviest rainfall was 2.6mm on May 1.
Sunshine was above average with 308.6 hours, and the sunniest day was May 29 with 14.6 hours. There was sunshine everyday, making this the sunniest May since records began in 1891, with residents able to bask in the sun outside as lockdown eased.
The average maximum and minimum temperatures were above average at 18.9C and 7.0C respectively. The highest maximum temperature was 26.1C on May 20, and the lowest minimum temperature was -0.6C on the night of May 12.
There was one air frost and eight ground frosts.
