Weather in London during March 2008
Very Wet and Rather Cold. The wettest March since 2001 and the 7th wettest in the area since 1900.
Temperatures
The average maximum temperature during March 2008 in Morden was 10.5 Celsius (51F), and that was over 1 Celsius (2F) below normal, and 0.4 Celsius colder than the preceding February. The average minimum temperature was 4 Celsius (39F), and that was less than 0.5 Celsius (1F) below average. The mean temperature was only 0.8 Celsius below average.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 15.4 Celsius (60F) on the 16th, but the temperature also exceeded 15 Celsius (59F) on the 11th. A higher monthly maximum temperature was recorded during the preceding February. Between the 1st and 15th there were only 3 days when the maximum temperature failed to reach 10 Celsius (50F), and from the 26th until the end of the month highs were 12 Celsius (54F), or higher, on each day. Between the 16th and 25th, maximum temperatures remained below 10 Celsius (50F), and on the 23rd and 24th they were below 5 Celsius (41F). The 23rd was the coldest day with an afternoon high of only 4.0 Celsius (39F).
There were 14 nights when the minimum temperature was above 5 Celsius (41F) during March. On the night of the 1st/2nd the temperature failed to fall below 10.2 Celsius (50F). Minima were below freezing on 4 nights, with 2 nights when the temperature dipped below minus 2 Celsius (28F). The lowest temperature was minus 2.4 Celsius (28F) on the night of the 4th/5th.
Frost
Air frost occurred on 4 nights, with grass frost occurring on 12 nights. The lowest grass minimum temperature was minus 7.6 Celsius (18F) on the night of the 4th/5th.
Rain
This was a very wet month, with the 88 millimetres (3.5 inches) recorded amounting to 239% of the March average. It was the wettest March in Morden for 7 years, and the 7th wettest in the area since 1900. There were 20 days with measurable rain, and only 4 completely dry days occurred. The 14 wet days (1.0mm/0.04ins or more) were the highest in March since records began in 1989. Nearly 31mm (1.2 inches) of rain fell in the 48 hours ending at 0900 hours on the 11th, and the 19mm (0.76 inches) that fell during the first 24 hours (the 10th) мейд that day the wettest in March in the Morden area since 1984.
Snow
Rain turned to sleet at times on the morПing of the 22nd and sleet showers occurred during the afternoon. On the 23rd, there was a period of snow, moderate at times, around mid morПing, this briefly settling on the garden and roofs. On the 24th there were outbreaks of sleet and wet snow, moderate at times, until early afternoon followed by sleet showers during the afternoon. Temporary accumulations of 1 to 2 cms occurred on the North Downs southeast of Croydon.
Thunderstorms
There was lightПing and one rumble of thunder at 1339(UTC) on the 10th.
There was hail, shortly after the thunder, at 1346 on the 10th; and 2 light falls of small hail occurred at 1521 and 1551 on the 30th. Soft hail occurred on the afternoon of the 22nd and 24th
Wind
Winds were mainly gentle or moderate from between southwest and northwest. On the 1st a gust of 44 knots (50mph) occurred, with 43 knots recorded on the 10th.