JANUARY Over the U.K. as a whole the month was wet. On Fair Isle this was the second wettest January recorded. In a generally windy month the 23rd was a particularly stormy night with winds reaching hurricane F12 and gusting in excess of 95 kt (as there was no power due to the windmill shutting down, the recorder had reverted to full range and was unable to record the highest gusts!). The highest MEAN windspeed was 69 kt - or almost 80 mph! Elsewhere in the U.K. temperatures were up to 1°C above average.
Rain 169.6%, sun 97.0%, mean temperature -0.1°C.

FEBRUARY The month continuing rather windy, was dry and cold with the wind frequently having an easterly component. Over the U.K. as a whole temperatures were about average with predominantly westerly winds.
Rain 56.7%, sun 98.0%, mean temperature -0.6°C.

Winter (Dec-Feb)
Fair Isle: Rain 125.1%, sun 99.8%, mean temperature -0.7°C.
U.K.: Mild in the south, wet almost everywhere.
At the Cairngorm car-park there were only seven days when there was no lying snow.

MARCH Continuing cold and windy, with quite a lot of snow - especially on the 20th when, in a matter of a few hours during the morning, 10 cm of fine powder snow fell under calm and very cold conditions. A strengthening wind then brought blizzard conditions - at times reducing the visibility to nil - and increasing the snow depth to 25 cm, with drifts to several metres! This was the year’s coldest day - with a daytime maximum of -0.3°C. The following night the air temperature fell to the year’s minimum of -4.8°C while, on the snow surface, the temperature fell to a Fair Isle record of -12.5°C. By the morning of the 22nd - following a night of very heavy rain and rapid thaw - most of the snow had gone. On Fair Isle this was the wettest March on record - continuing the trend away from it being a dry month, with frequent easterly winds, to one with a moist Atlantic regime. For Scotland as a whole, this was the wettest March on record - some places having as much as 500% of their normal March rainfall. In the 126 year Scottish rainfall record the last 17 years have included the 12 wettest March - with 1990, 1992 and 1994 the top three!
Particularly impressive auroral displays were observed on the nights of the 7th and 8th.
Dull and wet in the west, dry and sunny in the east and generally mild over the rest of the U.K.
Rain 167.1%, sun 123.5%, mean temperature -0.6°C.

APRIL Though sunny it was also an unsettled and wetter than normal month - with rain falling on more days than usual. The mean barometric pressure was well below the April mean (-7.3 mb). It was also a little windier than average - with wind directions slightly favouring a south-westerly quarter. Similar conditions were experienced by the rest of the U.K.
Rain 124.9%, sun 119.7%, mean temperature +0.2°C.

MAY With 278.1 hours of recorded sunshine this was the sunniest month EVER recorded on Fair Isle! Following a mild start, temperatures fell from around mid-month as the winds settled into the north-east. During May there were only eight days when the maximum temperature reached double figures. Until the last few days it was also an extremely dry month. Another consequence of a high frequency of winds from the north-east was that the visibility, almost without exception, was good - 60 km being the most frequent. In Orkney it was also dry, with only 17.6 mm of rainfall measured at Kirkwall. With records going back 45 years they also had their sunniest month ever -with 280.1 hours of sunshine. Other than over northern areas, the rest of the U.K. had a cool, wet and dull month.
Rain 53.7%, sun 143.0%, mean temperature -0.4°C.

Spring (Mar-May)
Fair Isle: Rain 129.5%, sun 130.8%, mean temperature -0.5°C.
U.K.: Mild in the south. Wet almost everywhere - although May was dry in the north.

JUNE Unlike most of the U.K. - which had a mild, sunny and mostly dry (even very dry in some areas) month - on Fair Isle it was the third wettest June on record. It was also windy, with winds frequently from a westerly direction. The 16th was the year’s sunniest day with 16.9 hours recorded.
Rain 153.3%, sun 107.1%, mean temperature -0.3°C.

JULY Summer arrived - with the temperature reaching 17.0°C on the 31st. This was the highest temperature recorded on Fair Isle since June 1992. Despite the relative warmth Fair Isle reported the UK's lowest maximum temperature on thirteen days during the month. With a rainfall of only 18.1 mm this was the driest July on record. However, as wind speeds were lighter than normal - and from a SE direction on 14 days (mean 4.6) - the AVERAGE relative humidity was 93.9%. As a consequence it was not surprising that fog occurred on 15 days. NOCTILUCENT clouds were observed on the nights of the 7th, 17th, 21st and 26th. A warm, dry and sunny month over most of the U.K.
Rain 34.5%, sun 121.1%, mean temperature +0.8°C.

AUGUST The month was dry, mild and sunny. The year’s highest temperature of 17.2°C was recorded in the early hours of the 1st. The month ended with severe thunderstorms over Orkney and Shetland. Elsewhere in the U.K. it was generally dull with about average temperatures.
Rain 31.9%, sun 120.5%, mean temperature +0.3°C.

Summer (Jun-Aug)
Fair Isle: Rain 64.1%, sun 115.7%, mean temperature +0.3°C.
U.K.: Warm and generally sunny. While some parts were dry, others were wet due to localised thunderstorm activity.

SEPTEMBER "A freak storm ripped through Shetland in the early hours of Thursday (1st) morning". The thunderstorm approached the south half of Shetland from the W at about 2 am and, with light winds, the storm was very slow-moving. Lightning activity was intense - causing damage to telephones and radio equipment. A group of six bullocks were killed by a lightning strike in the South Mainland area. The discharge scorched the ground, with three dead animals either side of the mark. Grass and earth was thrown into the air by the strike. There were also several reports of sheep killed by lightning. Lerwick Observatory recorded 45.9 mm between 02-07 GMT - with an hourly total of 21.3 mm recorded between 03-04 GMT. Rainfall for the overnight period was 47.2 mm - making the 31st (rainfall for the 12 hours read at 09h is credited to the day before) the wettest August day on record (since 1931). There was also a severe thunderstorm in Orkney during the afternoon of the 1st September which killed several sheep. On Fair Isle the only thunderstorm was 'thunder heard' during the morning.
Though a month which usually sees the first of the autumnal gales, September was less windy than usual - gales occurring on only 3 days. Easterly winds were not infrequent. On the 23rd the temperature reached 21°C in Kirkwall - but, although it was also the warmest day of the month, the temperature only reached 14.7°C on Fair Isle.
Over the rest of the U.K. it was generally cool, dull and wet.
Rain 106.9%, sun 105.9%, mean temperature 0.0°C.

OCTOBER was dry and sunny though a little cooler than normal. While wind directions varied, there was a bias towards winds from the south-east.
Over the rest of the U.K. the month was mostly sunny - although wet in the south.
Rain 62.9%, sun 106.7%, mean temperature -0.4°C.

NOVEMBER For Fair Isle, as with the rest of the U.K., this was the warmest November since records began. However, while the Fair Isle records only go back to 1974, for England it was the warmest November since 1650! A pleasant month. Because of the mild weather the incidence of snow, sleet and hail was well below normal and fog was more frequent. It was a slightly windier month than usual. While the frequency of winds from the south to west quadrant was about normal, there was an increase in the number of occasions that the wind was south-easterly. There were no cold northerlies! During the month as a whole there were only two short periods of a day or two when the mean daily temperature fell below average.
Rain 99.0%, sun 107.6%, mean temperature +1.7°C.

Autumn
Fair Isle: Rain 89.0%, sun 106.1%, mean temperature +0.4°C.
U.K.: Mild, generally wet and dull.

DECEMBER The mild weather of the previous month continued into December, with mean temperatures consistently above average during the first half of the month. The second half of the month was then marked by cold snaps alternating with milder periods. December was windy, with not only a high frequency of winds from a SW direction, but also a significant number of days with NW winds - bringing a touch of winter from time to time in the latter half of the month.
Fair Isle: Rain 124.0%, sun 147.7%, mean temperature +0.6°C.
U.K.: Mild, generally wet, but also sunny.