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Mild / sunny UK weather right now

jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
in Plants
It's only really the last 18 months or so that I really started paying attention to the garden and the weather.

Last year the Winter seemed a lot wetter (Sussex, UK) and I don't remember this sunshine and warmth happening in mid February. 

Is this unusual or was last year particularly bad? 
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  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Last winter we had cold snowy spells in late February and again in March, which isn't hugely unusual but doesn't happen every year.  As I recall, April was mostly cool and wet-ish and then it suddenly turned hot and dry the first weekend of May and stayed that way for months.  I think it's the extremes that we tend to remember.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    Last year was a cold winter / late spring - but not exceptionally so. This year we are enjoying a very mild spell in February - it is unseasonably mild.

    Weather-wise, I am personally more concerned about rainfall. Last summer was exceptionally hot and dry. Here in the east we have had some rain but (in my opinion) the autumn and winter rainfall has been very low.

    Reduced ground water / low reservoir levels at the end of last summer and not much in the way of autumn and winter rain to top everything up🤔 - I think we may have a water shortage to look forward to this summer😢

    Bring on some rain!
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    Topbird said:
    Here in the east we have had some rain but (in my opinion) the autumn and winter rainfall has been very low.

    From the Met Office 'Climate anomaly' maps, it has been dry right through October to January in the East of England apart from the extreme south east corner from Kent and along the south coast which has generally been around the average. Those are deviations from 'normal', rather than absolute values, of course. Kent is always one of the driest parts of the country
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    I'm in the east mids and was doing some digging today (soil is clay) and while the top 8 inches or so is moist, below that it is still dry.  Not a good sign for this time of the year.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • PurplerainPurplerain Posts: 1,053
    The first episode of GW 2018 was around 11 March and Monty was well wrapped up, with lots of snow on the ground. We still had the Beast from the East going on, gardens were desolate and then, the most wonderful Summer happened. 

    As gardeners we should never trust the weather (like persuasive phone scammers) until frost has gone in our own area. 

    I must admit that the mild weather we are having could bring some problems this year.
    SW Scotland
  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    Purplerain said:
    The first episode of GW 2018 was around 11 March and Monty was well wrapped up, with lots of snow on the ground. We still had the Beast from the East going on, gardens were desolate and then, the most wonderful Summer happened. 

    As gardeners we should never trust the weather (like persuasive phone scammers) until frost has gone in our own area. 

    I must admit that the mild weather we are having could bring some problems this year.
    What kind of problems?  Sorry if it's an obvious question, I'm fairly new to all this :-)
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    James - A few problems spring to mind - I’m sure there are more:

    A long period of cold weather helps to kill and control a few nasties.

    If we have a mild spell now, many plants begin growing again too early. If we then get a (seasonal) hard frost a lot of tender new growth etc may be severely damaged. 

    If early fruit tree blossom is frosted this can result in reduced or no yield.

    Keen gardeners start cutting back stuff a bit too hard a bit too early or start sowing seeds too early. (Seasonal) frosts may then damage or kill exposed plants / seedlings. 
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • PurplerainPurplerain Posts: 1,053
    edited February 2019

    The mild weather tends to persuade gardeners to forget frosts, plant out annuals early and lose them. Garden Centres love a mild Winter as all too often customers have to buy twice, having lost the lot by planting out in a sunny Spring.

    There is a good reason that frost warnings exist in our areas and it is wise to heed them.
    SW Scotland
  • jamesharcourtjamesharcourt Posts: 465
    I have two apple trees, so I am a little worried about that as I had minimal fruit last year.

    I have a few Japanese Maples but these don't leaf out until the last week of April or even May so hopefully the frosts will be history by then.

    I wonder if March will bring a hard freeze?




  • Garden noobGarden noob Posts: 260
    Down here in the South East I'd say last winter was late and harsh (it was all pretty mild until the Beast from the East in Feb and then it stayed cold into May). This year has felt more normal until the unseasonably mild weather of the last 10 days or so. It looks like this will continue into March, so I'm half expecting another cold snap (snow?) before the end of March. By April we should (in theory) start to embrace Spring and I aim to scarify my lawn before the end of April. As for rain, I thought we'd caught up on the dry summer over Nov-Jan but haven't really kept track. We'll see what this summer brings.
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