High Heaton Weather and Air Quality – February 2025 

Weather

A mild start to the month was followed by a long cold spell which lasted from the 7th to the 19th. This was caused by high pressure to the north of the UK resulting in an easterly airflow bringing cold air across the North Sea from the arctic regions. This was accompanied by thick cloud so that the sun was rarely seen. It was during this period that the month’s minimum temperature of -1.2°C was recorded, this occurring at 1am Monday 17th. There was a sudden change in temperature on Thursday 20th which was 10°C warmer than the previous day, and the last week of the month brought above average temperatures with a maximum of 15.0°C at 1pm on Friday 21st. This was the highest February temperature since 2019. The two warm periods, combined with the absence of any very cold nights (there were only two nights with an air frost), resulted in an average temperature higher than usual. The average temperature was 5.3°C compared with a 30-year mean value of 5.0°C.  February 2025 was the driest month for nearly four years, with only 23mm of rain falling, compared with the average for the month of 43mm. Most of the rain fell between the 8th and the 12th, with the wettest day being Monday 10th with 6mm.  We have now reached the end of meteorological winter. This was the fourth successive winter that was warmer than average (this year largely because of an exceptionally mild December), and once again there was no substantial snowfall. The winter’s average temperature was 5.1°C, which is 0.5° above the mean, with the temperature ranging from -3.9° to 15°C. A total of 148mm of rain was recorded which is 95% of the average.

Air Quality

After a poor January for air quality, February was even worse, and was by some measures the worst month since I began recording Air Quality four years’ ago.  The PM2.5 concentration was above the WHO’s target of 10µg/m3 on 16 days, and on seven of those days it was even above the UK’s limit of 25µg/m3, with the worst day being Wednesday 19th when it peaked at 52µg/m3   The average concentration was 17µg/m3. Nearly all the days with poor air quality occurred during the cold overcast period mentioned in the weather report. In terms of the Air Quality Index, we were in the ‘moderate’ band on four days, (including two days at level 6), which meant that people with heart or lung problems should consider reducing strenuous physical activity, especially outdoors.

                                                                                                               John Telfer