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March saw persistent high pressure bring settled conditions for most of the month. The month started with high pressure over southern England, resulting in bright but cooler than average temperatures in the south while the north saw milder temperatures and some showers. The clear conditions in the south also brought widespread fog as well as frost at times. The high pressure slowly shifted eastwards and the milder temperatures extended further south, reaching 19°C in some areas of Cumbria on the 8th. There were some scattered showers, especially in northern areas, but it was otherwise dry and often sunny. On the 10th a cold front moved into northern Scotland, bringing some snow over high ground. Temperatures across the country then turned colder than average as high pressure near Iceland exerted its influence on the UK. The following brief period of low pressure saw an increase in temperatures, and then high pressure from the southwest moved in, bringing warm and settled conditions. The month closed with high pressure over the UK, with conditions settled, warm and sunny.  


Read the full March 2025 climate summary


March 2025 was the third-warmest March on record for the globe in NOAA's 176-year record. The March global surface temperature was 1.31°C (2.36°F) above the 20th-century average of 12.7°C (54.9°F). This is 0.03°C (0.05°F) less than the record-warm March of last year. March 2025 marked the 49th consecutive March with global temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th-century average. Global land-only March temperatures ranked second warmest on record at 2.24°C (4.03°F) above average. Ocean-only temperatures also ranked second warmest on record for March at 0.90°C (1.62°F) above average. These temperatures occurred as the weak La Niña, which was present from December through February, transitioned to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-neutral conditions. Global temperatures tend to be cooler during periods of La Niña in comparison to ENSO-neutral and especially when El Niño is present. According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, ENSO-neutral conditions returned in March, with below-average sea surface temperatures weakening in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean. ENSO-neutral is favoured during the Northern Hemisphere summer, with a greater than 50% chance through August–October 2025. In the Northern Hemisphere, March 2025 ranked second warmest on record at 1.69°C (3.04°F) above average, cooler than the March 2016 record of 1.82°C (3.28°F). The Northern Hemisphere land temperature and the ocean temperature also were each individually second warmest. The average temperature of the contiguous U.S.A. in March 2025 was 46.90°F(8.28°C), which is 5.40°F (3.0°C) above the 1901-2000 average, ranking it the sixth-warmest March on record.


According to the UK Meteorological Office, this was the tenth-warmest March for the UK. The national mean temperature was 1.3°C (2.34°F) above the 1991–2020 average, based on provisional data in a series starting in 1884. Maximum temperatures were particularly high, with the UK experiencing its fourth-highest mean maximum temperature for March.


Read the full March 2025 NOAA Climate Report  


 










UK Climate Forecast  38 Union Street  Grantham  Lincolnshire  NG31 6NZ  


Ocean temperatures are off the charts right now and scientists are alarmed


One major driver of the heat is believed to be an approaching – and potentially strong – El Niño, a natural climate fluctuation associated with warming in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which has a global heating effect.

February 2024 was the warmest February in England and Wales since records began in 1884. The mean temperature across the whole of the UK was 6.3C (43.3F), the second warmest February for the whole country since the last record of 6.8C (44.2F) was set in 1998. The south of England also had its wettest February in a time series dating back to 1836, with much of the region experiencing more than twice the average rainfall. Average rainfall across the UK was 139.8mm which falls just outside the top 10 wettest Februarys on record. The highest amount of February rainfall ever was 213.7mm in 2020. East Anglia broke records on both fronts having had its warmest and wettest February on record. The area saw 106.4mm of rain throughout February and had a mean temperature of 8.2C (46.8F).

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First Quarter UN Climate Change Report 2024



Climate Analysis


The goal of climate analysis is to better understand the Earth’s past and present climate, and to predict future climate response to changes in natural and human-induced factors, such as the Sun, greenhouse gases (e.g., water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane), and aerosols (e.g., from dust storms, pollution, fires, sea spray or volcanic eruptions). Climate analysis studies are routinely carried out using a mix of data from diverse sources including historical climate data, current and past satellite instruments, field campaigns, and outputs from regional and global numerical models. A climatic data element is a measured parameter which helps to specify the climate of a specific location or region, such as precipitation, temperature, wind speed and humidity.




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WMO State of Global Climate 2024

Published 19 March 2025