Why is it so cold in the UK right now and when is it going to get warmer? (2024)

April is a month so infamously miserable that nearly every Briton knows the phrase: ‘March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers.’

But rather than umbrellas, most people this month have been grabbing their winter coats instead as cold spells and rain have swept across the country.

Despite enjoying a few warm spells last week, the past few days have seen temperatures slump to as low as 4°C in London, with the Met Office even predicting overnight frost – and snow – in some parts of the country.

The Met Office is also forecasting thunderstorms, strong winds and even a chance of the twelfth storm of the season, Storm Lilian, crashing into the country.

At this time of year, temperatures in the capital are meant to be what now seems like a toasty 15°C.

So what’s behind the sudden chill? And how do we compare to Europe?

Why is it so cold right now in the UK?

For a bit of perspective, April has never been a month known for warmth. Over the years, however, it has steadily got warmer.

The average daily maximum temperature for the month is 13°C while the minimum is 4°C. By the end of the month, the mercury is rising to about 16°C and maybe even the odd 21°C with May just around the corner.

The only time you’d normally see single digits is at night when the average is 5°C. But this is the kind of temperature we’ve been seeing in the daytime for weeks.

It’s no secret that the world outside your bed can feel a little colder – or warmer – than it actually is. But a Met Office spokesperson told Metro.co.uk that there is a reason why it feels especially colder than normal.

‘The main reason is the switch in wind direction,’ they said.

‘We have high pressure sat to the west of the UK at the moment and low pressure to the east.

‘This means we have northerly winds bringing in the lower temperatures.’

That’s a lot of weather speak, but know that high pressure often brings fine, dry days while lower pressure can cause it to bucket it down.

So, this high pressure is paving the way for freezing northerly air to flow right into the UK.

And this air is seriously cold. BBC presenterCarol Kirkwood said the sudden downturn is due to wind from the North Sea and the Arctic being pulled in.

(You don’t need us to explain how cold Arctic air is.)

‘High pressure is out to the west so all the wind is coming around it, down the North Sea coastline, so we are pulling in Arctic air at the moment,’ she said.

Without wind, however, the weather wouldn’t exist. That gust of wind that blew your umbrella inside out is playing a massive part in deciding how long you’ll, well, need that umbrella for.

The Met Office spokesperson said that wind helps decide when the seasons click.

‘During the Springtime months, we can often see changes from the colder “winter” type weather to more “summer” like conditions depending on that wind direction, sometimes quite quickly – as we have seen over the past few days,’ they added.

How does the rest of Europe compare?

All this wind blowing about is also making it pretty cold across the rest of the continent, too.

France has been all over the place. The first 15 days of the month were among the hottest seen in the country since records began – the second half, however, will be the exact opposite.

Temperatures are between 2 and 3°C lower than they should be – making it about as cold as it was in France – because of this Arctic blast.

Even holiday hotspots – usually in the literal sense in terms of hot – are shivering.

Italy has seen temperatures in the negative, with the average minimum scraping 5°C – well below the seasonal average of up to 20°C. Greece, meanwhile, has been stuck in the single-digits for weeks.

Gusts of cold air from Greenland are about to make it even colder and wetter in Spain than normal from Thursday.

Switzerland has seen the mercury almost frozen in place, dropping by 20°C since mid-April to barely above 10°C during the day.

Finland is seeing weather that the country’s weather service described as a ‘rare or extraordinary phenomenon’; snow. Might not sound all that shocking, but even in the country’s most densely populated region of Helsinki, it’s been below zero.

How long until it’s warmer?

Thankfully, forecasters expect temperatures to begin to rise in the coming weeks.

The Met Office forecast for next week says: ‘Gradually becoming more unsettled towards the weekend with showers or longer spells of rain at times. Often cloudy and feeling chilly in brisk winds.

‘It will be an uncertain start to the weekend though likely unsettled as a frontal system continues to push north across the UK, coupled with strong winds and possible coastal gales, this likely followed by a showery day with potential thunderstorms on Sunday and again on Monday.

‘Beyond this, low-pressure patterns continue to dominate with wet weather perhaps more likely to develop in parts of the south and east, though all parts are may see some rain at times.

‘Winds further into the period [will be] mostly light to moderate. Temperatures will likely trend near or slightly above average, though some cooler interludes remain possible.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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