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The 10 coldest Central England Temperatures for January, February and March since 1659
               
January
Monthly Mean
 
February
Monthly Mean
 
March
Monthly Mean
Temp °C
Temp °C
Temp °C
1795
-3.1
 
1947
-1.9
 
1677
1.0
1684
-3.0
 
1895
-1.8
 
1788
1.2
1814
-2.9
 
1855
-1.7
 
1751
1.8
1740
-2.8
 
1740
-1.6
 
1886
1.9
1963
-2.1
 
1986
-1.1
 
1670
2.0
1716
-2.0
 
1684
-1.0
 
1848
2.0
1776
-1.6
 
1963
-0.7
 
1792
2.1
1709
-1.5
 
1956
-0.2
 
1789
2.1
1838
-1.5
 
1692
0.0
 
1840
2.3
1881
-1.5
 
1942
0.1
 
1773
2.5
               
The Central England Temperature (CET) series was devised by Professor Gordon Manley (1902-1980).
He originally defined Central England as the area from the Lancashire Plain to the East and West Midlands
although the CET series is a useful indicator of mean temperature for a somewhat wider area-roughly the
triangular area Malvern-Manchester-London. The temperature record begins in 1659 and has been maintained
to the present day. More recent temperatures have been corrected to take account of increased urbanisation.
The table above shows that February 1947 was the coldest February in the series but January 1963 was
an even colder winter month. Neither of these matched January 1795!
Sources of information
Martin Rowley's Pages of Frequently Asked Questions for uk.sci.weather
The Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office (click on 'Climate Monitoring')
Historic Station Data from the UK Met Office (starts more recently than CET series)
CET Values 1990-2003
 
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