• 5mm of rain was measured during the month of December; 32.3mm less than the climatic norm
• The mercury peaked at 23.4°C, while the lowest recorded temperature was 10.3°C
• December brought less sunlight and windier weather than the monthly norm

Despite the fact that December marks the beginning of winter, the last month of 2023 was characterised mostly by dry weather. In fact, 52.5mm of rain was measured during the past month, falling 32.3mm short of the climatic norm for this time of the year.

This dry weather was accompanied by warmer-than-average temperatures that persisted throughout the entire month, including Christmastime and New Year’s. In fact, the average temperature for the past month was 15.9°C, exceeding the climatic norm by 1.4°C. While the second day of December was the warmest day of the month, with the maximum temperature rising to 23.4°C, the record is still held by the fifth of December 1963, when the temperature rose to 24.3°C.

On the other hand, the lowest temperature registered last December was 10.3°C on the eighth and sixteenth day of the month. This means that the last day of 2014 still remains the coldest December night on the records of the Meteorological Office, when the temperature dropped to 2.8°C shortly before midnight.

Although warmer, last December was gloomier than the norm, with cloudy weather characterising most of the month and 125.5 hours of sunlight measured; 40.2 fewer hours of sunshine than the climatic norm. The twelfth of December was the sunniest day with 8.7 hours of sunshine recorded, while the eighteenth of the month was the dreariest, with the sky being shrouded in clouds that day.

Only one thunderstorm was recorded in December, but the same could not be said for occurrences of wind, with the number of windy days surpassing the climatic norm for December. In fact, the average wind force reached 9.9 knots; exceeding the norm by 0.8 knots. The strongest gust of wind blew from the Northwest by West on the twenty-second of December, reaching 47 knots.

Published on: 12.01.24