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8th May 1945 – V.E. Day Weather Lookback

Seventy-five years ago today Victory in Europe was declared. Farmers were experiencing a wet and thundery May, and one which started cold but then became warm as the month progressed. Growing conditions actually appear to have been fairly good during the month as a whole.

That cold start to May 1945 was characterised by frosts, and on the 1st it was noted that The Lizard in Cornwall reached 0C, breaking the earlier record for the station set in 1892 (so it’s not only now that we talk of ‘records’!). It got even colder on the morning of the 2nd when Kew Gardens reported a temperature of -9C on the ground.

On the 3rd sleet and snow was observed locally in the south and southeast, and it was on that day that Bristol had a maximum temperature of only 6C.

Milder southwest winds returned after 5th May 1945, and true to form May showed what wild variations in temperatures can be experienced during the month when on the 12th London recorded a maximum of 31C (87F).

Thunderstorms were described as being ‘unusually active’ during the month, and there must have been some flash flooding as 35mm fell in a few hours at Croydon on the evening of the 21st. More persistent rain affecting Scotland and Ireland on the 16th, with 45mm falling at Eskdalemuir in Dumfries & Galloway.

Sunshine totals for the month were below average almost everywhere with only eastern Scotland showing anywhere near normal levels.

On VE Day itself (the original charts as shown below, are annotated with a small ‘VE’ - I wonder if the analysts superiors noticed this?) a warm southeast wind covered the country. There was some early rain in the west, eastern areas were dry. As a cold front moved east the weather turn brighter, but cooler from the west. Temperatures widely reached 18 to 22C, but reached as high as 26C in London.

 

(Crown Copyright National Meteorological Library & Archive)

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