March did indeed come in like a lion but it stayed roaring windy weather with local records going back more than 30 years proving it to be the coldest.
We shivered just like the rest of the country, according to Marlborough weather man Eric Gilbert, who told Marlborough News Online: “We have to go back to 1987 to find the previous very cold March but even that was almost 2C warmer than 2013.”
Overall, he reports: “March 2013 was a remarkable month for the persistence of winds from a north-easterly (17 days) or easterly (9 days) direction and the strength of that wind over many days due to a persistent blocking high pressure over Scandinavia.
“There were five days with gusts above 30 mph and a maximum of 42 mph on the 11th.
“The strong winds and low temperatures gave a wind chill that was a major factor during many days. There were several days with a wind chill factor of minus 4C, also minus 6C on the 24th and a very low of minus 8C on the 11th.
“It proved to be the coldest March I have recorded with a mean 3.6C below the long-term average but this masks the fact that the daytime mean temperature was 4.4C below the long-term average.
“We remember with fond memories March 2012 which had a mean almost 6C higher and twelve days warmer than this year with a high of 21.0C on the 28th.”
He adds: “There were a record number of days with air frost, 19 in total — the previous record was 17 in 1995 — with the most severe on the morning of the 31st when the thermometer dropped to minus 6.6C.
“This was the lowest air temperature for the whole of the past winter. However, this is not a record for March as we experienced a low of minus 8.4C in 1985 and 2004.
“The incidence of air frosts has varied considerably over the last 30 years from lows of just two in 1994 and three in 1992.”
And as to the future, he added: “The meteorological experts blame this cold spell on the Jetstream being to the south of the UK. Looking at the forecast track of these high altitude, fast moving streams of air which move weather systems around the globe, it is not predicted to move further north until 8th April at least.
“Perhaps then we will begin to see the thermometer rising several degrees to herald the season of spring rather the continuation of winter.”