JANUARY
With a mean daily temperature of 5.5°C it was a very mild month, though 1989 saw the warmest January with a mean of 6.9°C. The first half of the month was decidedly warm, with the maximum of 11.1°C recorded on the 11^th the highest January temperature ever measured on Fair Isle. (The previous highest was 10.7°C in 1989). The mean daily sea temperature of 9.0°C was the highest recorded in January. (1990 was the former warmest at 8.6°C). Winds during the month were noticeably lighter than usual and frequently in the SW’ly quadrant (66.7%). However, just after mid-month a brief spell of strong to gale force N to NE’ly winds did bring a spell of bitterly cold weather with heavy snow showers and drifting of the lying snow.

Fair Isle: Rain 95.4%, sun 132.6%, mean temperature anomaly +1.1°C.
UK: Rain 124%, sun 120%, mean temperature anomaly +1.5°C.
Very mild and wet right across most of Britain at first, less mild and drier later. Mean temperature anomaly +0.5° to +1.0° C. Sunny in the southwest, dull in eastern Scotland.

FEBRUARY
Exceptionally wet, very mild and rather dull. Despite a very cold start - with a blast of Arctic air bringing a record minimum temperature of –5.6°C on the 2^nd, with up to 6 cms of lying snow - and a cold end to the month when arctic air returned this was the warmest February on Fair Isle since records began in 1974. The previous highest mean daily temperature for the month was 5.7°C recorded in 1992. Above average sea temperatures and arctic air resulted in thunderstorms on the 27^th and a further snow cover on the morning of the 28^th. The mean sea temperature - 1.7°C above the normal 6.5°C - is also the highest February figure recorded. On 23 out of 28 days winds were between south and west in direction at 0900.

Fair Isle: Rain 218.1%, sun 55.5%, mean temperature anomaly +2.2°C.
UK: Rain 29%, sun 131%, mean temperature anomaly +3.4°C.
Very mild – the fourth successive mild month across Britain. With areas of blocking high pressure never far away from England and Wales, rainfall here was well below average – with less than 25% of the normal value over much of south-east England. Sunshine totals were above average everywhere except over North Wales and North-West England. Taking Scotland as a whole, this was the warmest winter month on record – the departures from average almost 6°C over the Eastern Highlands, with somewhat lower values in maritime regions. As a result of the clearer conditions England and Wales, while experiencing higher daytime maxima, also had cooler nights – hence the highest daily mean temperatures were north of the Border

Winter (Dec-Feb)
Very mild, wet and dull.

Fair Isle: Rain 126.7%, sun 88.7%, mean temperature anomaly +1.5°C.
UK: Mild right across the country, but also sunny and dry in many places.

MARCH
The month began bitterly cold with frequent snow showers and a strong N’ly airstream across the Northern Isles. Strong E’ly winds with heavy snow and sleet resulted in a more or less continuous snow cover for the first six days
– 5 cm deep by the 6^th. After the 12^th persistently above average temperatures resulted in a mild or very mild second half to the month.

Fair Isle: Rain 108.2%, sun 88.0%, mean temperature anomaly +0.8°C.
UK: Rain 40%, sun 110%, mean temperature anomaly +1.9°C.
Mild, with temperature anomaly generally +1.0° to +2.0° C. Rainfall generally near normal but wet over Wales, western and northeastern England. Sunshine was generally below average.

APRIL
After a cool first half - the mean daily temperatures falling to 2° to 3°C below normal from the 10^th to 15^th - a milder than usual second half resulted in the mean temperature for the month as a whole being just below normal. A dry month but for a short wet spell from the 20th-24^th - with 14.8 mm of rain falling on the 23^rd. Sunshine was well above average, the only ‘dull’ periods being the 3^rd – 6^th and 22^nd –24^th. The mean pressure of 1005.4 mb was the lowest recorded for any April since 1974 (previous lowest 1005.6 mb, 1977). Fair Isle reported the lowest daytime maximum temperature in the UK on the 6^th, 21^st, 25^th and 27^th – not because the isle was particularly cold, but because the rest of the country was rather mild! In fact the 25^th was our second warmest (9.8°C) day of the month.

Fair Isle: Rain 91.0%, sun 125.5%, mean temperature anomaly –0.3°C.
UK: Rain 222%, sun 94%, mean temperature anomaly –0.2°C.
Mostly cool, cloudy and wet, although Northwest Scotland and the Northern Isles were sunny with near average rainfall.

MAY
While Shetland as a whole was much sunnier than usual Fair Isle, due to several foggy spells, was only a little sunnier than normal. Like the rest of Scotland Fair Isle was warmer than normal, with the mean daily temperature almost approaching the highest May value of 8.7° C (1992). The period from the 15th to the 18th was particularly warm with the maximum temperature reaching 12.7° C Rainfall in the Northern Isles was well below average. As a consequence of the high temperatures further south, sea and coastal fog proved troublesome at times in the Northern Isles.

Fair Isle: Rain 50.4%, sun 105.7%, mean temperature anomaly +1.0°C.
UK: Rain 40%, sun 110%, mean temperature anomaly +1.9°C.
Quite warm across Britain, especially in the south. Dull in the west and wet in northeast England. In Scotland sunshine values were near average and it was also drier than normal, although the Edinburgh area and the eastern Borders were wetter than average (around 150%). On the 13th at Kinlochewe, a maximum of 28.3°C - the highest temperature of the month – was recorded. This figure is not too far short of the 29.0°C recorded in Edinburgh on 14th May 1992 - the highest May temperature of this century anywhere in Scotland.

Spring (Mar-May)
Mainly dry and reasonably sunny apart from a few wet days in early and late March, and again in late April, that boosted the overall total. Mean temperatures generally 1° to 2°C above average, but a cold start to March and April reduced this figure somewhat. Overall, Fair Isle benefited from a slight better spring than the rest of the UK.

Fair Isle: Rain 90.2%, sun 108.6%, mean temperature anomaly +0.5°C.
UK: A warm spring with temperature anomaly +0.5° to +1.5°C. Sunshine was below normal virtually everywhere with around 83-96% of average totals. Almost all areas were wet with between 125% and 175% of normal rainfall totals.

JUNE
A surprisingly sunny month – considering that it was also cool and very wet! The month began with high pressure over Iceland and low pressure over England and the southern North Sea maintaining a cool but mainly dry and sunny northeast to northerly airstream across Shetland. A developing depression over England produced near gale northeasterly winds and heavy rain on the 7^th, before a weak ridge of high pressure brought a return of the light north to northeasterly winds. A developing Atlantic low tracking east across the UK gave heavy rain on the 9^th and – as it deepened to the east of Shetland - northerly gales gusting to 52 kt on the 10^th. On the same day, Lerwick recorded its coldest June day on record with a maximum of just 6.8°C. Fair Isle was a little warmer with a maximum of 7.4°C (our lowest June maximum temperature is 5.6°C recorded in 1975). The third week of the month saw the return of high pressure over Iceland, to give a return to dry and sunny conditions with light NE to NW’ly winds. By the 20^th a slow-moving low in the Atlantic produced warm and moist southerly winds across the British Isles. A thundery low developing in the airstream drifted north over Scotland, bringing severe thunderstorms with hail to Shetland on the 21^st. Low pressure in the Atlantic continued to dominate the weather for most of the remainder of the month with moist S to SE’ly winds with drizzle, hill and coastal fog. During the last few days the low drifted east into the North Sea to give cool and showery N’ly winds to end the month.

Fair Isle: Rain 197.2%, sun 131.7%, mean temperature anomaly –0.3°C.
UK: Rain 192%, sun 80%, mean temperature anomaly –0.1°C.
Mean temperatures were quite close to normal, however fairly frequent cloudy conditions in the south resulted in below normal maximum and above normal minimum values. It was sunny in northern and Northwest Scotland. Wet across most of the UK with rainfall totals between 150% and 200% of normal.

JULY
The month started reasonably fine with a large anticyclone to the south of Iceland and a northeasterly airstream across Scotland. As the high declined frontal systems affected the north from time to time but otherwise there were sunny periods and showers in a fairly light westerly airstream. On the 12^th a depression, moving northeast across the Borders, pushed active fronts with heavy rain, making it the wettest day of the year across Scotland as a whole. After a few days of showery northwesterly winds, another depression with active fronts brought further heavy rain north across Scotland on the 19^th – making this the second wettest day of the year in Scotland. This time the low, moving north to the west of Scotland, resulted in mild southerly winds with a maximum of 24°C at Inverness on the 20^th. The next few days saw a return to bright and showery conditions. A depression, becoming slow-moving close to Scotland, brought a cloudy end to the month.

Fair Isle: Rain 171.1%, sun 70.8%, mean temperature anomaly –0.5°C.
UK: Rain 85%, sun 82%, mean temperature anomaly –0.4°C.
Mean temperatures generally around 1.0°C below normal. Sunshine totals were below average, especially in western Scotland, and rainfall above average – except in central eastern England.

AUGUST
With high pressure centred over Scotland the first ten days of the month were reasonably bright, although there were some wet days as frontal systems skirted round the top of the high. During the 9^th the high transferred into the North Sea introducing a southeasterly airflow. While this did result in drier and warmer conditions for much of Scotland, low cloud and coastal fog proved troublesome in the Northern Isles. After midmonth, as a mobile westerly airstream becoming established, unsettled and for the most part fog-free conditions prevailed. After the 21^st, as winds veered into the northwest, it became quite cool with temperatures as much as 3°C below average – despite a week of sunny days. Atrough on the 28^th backed the wind southeasterly to give a foggy end to the month.

Fair Isle: Rain 123.3%, sun 73.9%, mean temperature anomaly –0.9°C.
UK: Rain 62%, sun 109%, mean temperature anomaly +0.1°C.
Despite the first hot spell of the summer early in August, overall the mean temperature for the month was just +0.5°C above normal. In the extreme south the warm weather did hang on until the end of the month. Sunshine values across the British Isles were highest in the southwest and lowest in the northeast, ranging from 120% to 80% of normal. Rainfall values ranged from 150% of normal over western Scotland to 50% in the south and southeast.

Summer (Jun-Aug)
The summer will long be remembered as one of the dreariest for many years – the third wettest summer on Fair Isle since records began in 1974. Following a sunny (if rather wet) June, the overall sunshine total was not far below the long-term mean – yet, with a dull July and August, the summer was effectively a rather sunless one, despite appearing only 11^th on the list of dullest summers. As well as sunny, June was also reasonably mild with the mean temperature not far from the long-term average. However, the summer then took a turn for the worse with July and August becoming progressively cooler. This coolness was even more marked if we look at the maximum temperatures reached during the months – more or less what was to be expected for June, but decidedly chilly for July and August.

Fair Isle: Rain 159.4%, sun 94.7%, mean temperature anomaly –0.5°C.
UK: With the mean temperature generally between -0.5° to –1.0° below normal this was the coolest summer for some ten years. Summer sunshine totals were below average across northern Britain, with rainfall above average almost everywhere – just the extreme south and southeast of England recording 90% to 95% of normal rain.

SEPTEMBER
A dry, mild and dull. month – with summer attempting to make a rather belated appearance. Persistent SE’ly winds during the first ten day brought mainly cloudy conditions and temperatures slightly above average then cooler and showery NW’ly winds spread down across the British Isles. Lighter winds resulted in a cold night, with the temperature on the grass falling to –1.2°C by the morning of the 12th.
After mid-month, with E’ly winds off Scandinavia and a short sea-track, the Northern Isles saw a warm, dry and sunny spell. The temperature rose to 18°C on the 21st – not only the warmest day of the year, but also the warmest September day and the 8th highest temperature ever recorded on Fair Isle!. The milder conditions lasted until the end of the month, although the warm – if not hot - sunny conditions soon came to an end, as the high slipped away into Eastern Europe and winds again settled into the SE as low pressure moved towards Biscay. A cold front, moving down from the north and becoming slow-moving across Fair Isle, became a rather troublesome warm front as low pressure over the South-West fed moist air northwards - resulting in the month’s wettest day on the 27th.

Fair Isle: Rain 60.0%, sun 69.5%, mean temperature anomaly +0.8°C.
UK: Rain 113%, sun 97%, mean temperature anomaly +1.1°C.
Rather warm right across Britain with mean temperatures around 1.0°C above average. Rainfall was below average across northwest England, western and northern Scotland and above in the southeast, with the London area rather wet with 200% of normal rain. Across Scotland temperatures were typically 1.5°C above average. With winds often from a south-easterly quarter eastern coasts suffered from low cloud, but the west was drier and brighter with less than 50% average rainfall. Tiree recorded its driest September since 1933. On the 21^st the temperature reached 27°C at Aboyne and 23°C at Kirkwall and Colonsay.

OCTOBER
Colder and wetter, but with near normal hours of sunshine (somewhat sunnier in the rest of Shetland). Snow and/or sleet reported on 9 days - previous October highest value 6 days in 1993. Hail reported on 15 days - previous October highest value 13 days in 1983.

Fair Isle: Rain 138.5%, sun 100.5%, mean temperature anomaly –0.8°C.
UK: Rain 163%, sun 104%, mean temperature anomaly +0.2°C.
A similar story across Scotland as a whole - wet, with flooding, but also record sunshine. At Glasgow Airport it was the second sunniest October since records began in 1922 (that of 1997 the sunniest, beating this October's total by a mere half an hour). Several frosty nights resulted in mean monthly temperatures falling to 1.5°C to 2°C below average in some inland districts. Rainfall was between 150% to 200% above average over most of the country. Glasgow Airport had its second wettest October on record and, with a 24-hour fall of 49 mm on the 22nd, its second wettest October day on record. Temperatures were close to normal in the south of Britain where it was also dull and wet with some 80% of normal sunshine and, in the Midlands, up to 250% normal rainfall.

NOVEMBER
Slightly cooler and wetter than average, but with hours of sunshine well above normal. Shetland as a whole was also sunny with Lerwick - recording almost twice the normal monthly sunshine - having its sunniest November on record.
The remnants of ex-hurricane ‘Mitch’, tracking north-east past Scotland, brought gale to severe gale force SE’ly winds across Shetland on the 8^th. A temporary easing to lighter SW’ly winds early on the 9^th allowed temperatures to rise overnight to the month’s maximum of 11.0°C. However W’ly winds soon increased, reaching storm force over exposed parts of Shetland and gusting to 66 kt on Fair Isle, as the depression continued north past Shetland and on across the Faeroes.

Fair Isle: Rain 122.9%, sun 144.9%, mean temperature anomaly –0.4°C.
UK: Rain 90%, sun 123%, mean temperature anomaly –0.4°C.
Rather cold all over Britain, with mean temperatures typically –0.5° to –1,0°C below average, and with East Anglia and the southeast as much as –1.5°C below normal. Rainfall across most areas varied between 100% and 125% above normal, but the South Coast and Midlands recorded as little as 50% normal rainfall. Sunshine was generally between 100% and 140% of average, with the lowest values down the central spine of the country.

Autumn (Sep-Nov)
A mild start but, turning cold from mid-October until late-November, the season ended up slightly cooler than normal. With wind directions often from between west and north and snow and sleet a frequent occurrence, autumn 1998 was more typical of the autumns of the late 1970s or early 1980s rather than the mild southwesterly type of recent years.

Fair Isle: Rain 110.4%, sun 91.7%, mean temperature anomaly –0.2°C.
UK: Across the country as a whole the season began mild but ended cool, resulting in near normal mean temperatures. Sunshine was mostly below average at around 90% to 95% in many places, but the South coast had 105% to 115%, as did much of Ireland. Everywhere had above average rainfall, mostly around 125% to 175%, although a few places on the south and eastern coasts had nearer 110%.

DECEMBER
A sunny, but slightly wetter than normal month. Despite it also being mild, snow was more frequent than usual due to spells of northerly winds, with 5 cm of lying snow – and drifts up to 50 cm – on the 4^th.
Mid-month was particularly mild with the temperature reaching 15.8°C at Kinloss on the 14^th. Fair Isle fared somewhat better than the rest of Shetland, where it was a very windy and wet month with Lerwick reporting 14 gale days - twice the expected number. Fair Isle recorded the usual number of gale days (9), although the mean monthly wind speed (20.4 kt) was a little higher than the average (19.5 kt).

Fair Isle: Rain 107.6%, sun 121.6%, mean temperature anomaly +0.6°C.
UK: Rain 89%, sun 92%, mean temperature anomaly +0.6°C.
Mean temperatures were above average over the whole of the British Isles by around +0.5° to +1.3°C. Sunshine was between 100% and 120% for most areas, with western districts of Scotland, England and Wales around 80%. Rainfall was generally above average, with up to 125% in the southeast and 150% for the Western Isles, but southeast Scotland and northeast England was dry with just 50%. In Scotland the month was also windy, the outstanding event undoubtedly the ‘Boxing Day’ storm, which brought a deep depression of 950 mb tracking northeast across the middle of Scotland. Though deep, it was not record-breaking – in December 1982, for instance, the pressure at Stornoway fell to 938 mb. The strongest winds were on the southern flank of the low, with the highest gust of 109 mph reported from Shotts and Blackford Hill in Edinburgh recording 107 mph. The 93 mph gust measured at Glasgow Airport was more typical of lower elevations. At most locations in Central Scotland, this was the most severe gale since the ‘Glasgow hurricane’ of 1968, the maximum gusts of which were some 10 mph higher than those in the Boxing Day storm.

YEAR
Fair Isle: Rain 120.0%, sun 98.7%, mean temperature anomaly +0.2°C.
England and Wales: Rain 116%, sun 97%, mean temperature anomaly +0.8°C.
1998 was a very warm year overall, but not as warm as 1997. It was also the wettest since 1966.
This has been the 8th warmest year this century and the dullest since 1993.
A wet and windy year across Scotland. In Scotland it was also a warm year, although not as warm as 1997. Even so, the last two years taken together were amongst the warmest 2-year periods in the Scottish historical record.

Meteorological data, Fair Isle 1998.

(Figures in brackets are the average for the period 1974-1997)

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Last edited on 20 February, 1999   Dave Wheeler weatherman@zetnet.co.uk
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