A look back at some notably warm, cold or stormy Valentine's Day in the past.
Today was the warmest day of the year so far, with a top temperature of 16.4C at Gogerddan, near Aberystwyth in west Wales, Trawsgoed not far away reaching 15.9C. Both these locations probably benefitting from sunshine and a little foehn effect in the lee of the Cambrian mountains just to the east and southeast in the mild southeasterly flow. For SE England and Wales it felt spring-like in the widespread sunshine today, however,stubborn to clear cloud and fog over parts of northern and eastern England subdued temperatures, fog in Lincolnshire and the Vale of York kept temperatures at 4C.
Valentine’s Day, in the past, like today, can sometimes been surprisingly mild. In 1998 the whole of the UK basked in balmy warmth with a record high of 19.1C at Tivington in Somerset. But, it’s still winter and Valentine’s Day is often the coldest day of the year, with the lowest average daily temperature in central England in records dating back to 1878. February 14 often dawns with a frost, like this morning in many areas away from the far west and statistics show there is a 40 per cent chance of an air frost during the night.
Valentines Day has sometimes brought a taste of spring, reminded us it’s still winter or brought wet and windy weather to keep us indoors and bringing flooding and disruption to travel from high winds. This blog looks back at the more pleasant and less pleasant Valentines days in the past.
2019
High pressure was centred to the SE of Britain, despite a slight air frost to start across parts of central and southern England, it was a very mild and locally warm and sunny day across England and Wales, the temperature reached 16C in Bala, north Wales.
1998
Even warmer than 2019, there was an exceptionally mild spell mid-February this year (12-15th), thanks to high pressure over western Europe and low pressure over the Atlantic pulling in southerly winds bringing warm and sunny weather. At that time a new record high for February was set of 19.7C at Greenwich (London) on the 13th. On Valentine’s Day Tivington, Somerset was not far behind and made 19.1C on the 14th.
2016
Valentine's Day brought the UK's coldest temperature in four years as snow and icy weather swept large parts of the country, the mercury dropped as low as -14.1C (6.62F) in Braemar, Aberdeenshire.
1994
High pressure over Scandinavia began to intensify towards the middle of February that year - bringing a cold easterly flow to the UK from 12th. Valentine’s day was particularly cold, beneath freezing over much of Britain; the maximum in Dunkeswell (East Devon) was only -3.5C and there was an unexpected heavy snowfall event in the south - which caused rush hour chaos in London.
1991
There was a notable ten-day cold spell during the first half of February that year, as winds brought in some very cold air from northern Russia, leading to snow across most of Britain and some very low temperatures. The lowest temperature reached during the month was -16.0C at Cawood (N. Yorkshire) on the 14th.
Valentines Day Storm 2014
A low developed off the east coast of Canada on the 12th February 2014 then deepened rapidly as it tracked east over the North Atlantic before moving over Ireland on the afternoon of the 14th with a central pressure of around 960mb. Widespread gale force southwesterly winds hit the UK, strongest gust were recorded along southern, southwestern and western coasts, with a gust of 94 knots (108mph) recorded at the Needles Old Battery on the Isle of Wight. There was a significant storm surge across the southwest of England, with considerable overtopping of sea defences in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Hampshire. At Milford on Sea, Hampshire, 32 people having a romantic meal were rescued from a beach front restaurant as waves threw shingle and smashed ground floor windows. Residents in Mudeford near Christchurch, Dorset were also evacuated. There was also flooding from rivers in the south of England near the upper tidal reaches due to swollen rivers from weeks of heavy rain and tidal surge. Elsewhere there was widespread damage from the storms caused by the winds, with traffic disruption and power cuts due to fallen trees. This was just before the naming of storms by the Met Office.
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