October can be a stormy month, as the weather systems transition from summer to winter. The air cools rapidly with the waning sun, but the oceans remain warmer for longer, and that contrast can drive Atlantic storms our way. But this year it has been relatively quiet.

So the weather remained mild for the time of year, and yet again, for an astonishing fifteenth month in row, the mean temperature was above the long term average for the month: 12.0°C compared with the average of 10.9°C. Our warmest day was the 16th, at 21.9°C more than two degrees above the average October maximum, though not exceptional, whilst the coolest day was the 11th, when the temperature dropped to 2.2°C by dawn, cold enough for some frost on the grass, and exactly the average minimum for October in our 40 years of records.

October is on average our wettest month of the year, and this year we had plenty of rain with 55.0mm, but it fell short of the long term average for the month of 69.7mm. But it was still enough for 2024 already to be a wetter year than the average for us!

We had one named storm, Ashley, on 20th-21st, but it passed well to the north of us and we barely registered anything from it: just a bit of rain as it approached, and barely a drop in pressure. In fact our lowest pressure of the month came with a depression on 9th October, and at 984.8 hPa was a little below the long term average (16 years of comparable records). Our mean pressure at 1013.2 hPa was also a little below the average, and the highest pressure of 1032.3 hPa on the 23rd a little above the average, but none of these were anything unexceptional.

Winds were generally lighter than usual, with our highest gust of 25mph, or Force 6 (delivered by Storm Ashley on the 20th), and the average daily maximum of 14.3mph, both equalling the lowest in our records, both set in 2007.

Finally the sunshine: there were ten days in the month with no sunshine at all, and the month’s total of 65.0 hours – an average of not much over two hours a day – indicating an often cloudy month.