As Yorkshire is in preparation for what is anticipated to be the hottest day of the year so far amidst Britain’s warmest heatwave in April since 2018, records show the region has endured its driest combined February, March and April for almost 90 years.
In recent years numerous weather records broken in the UK with the most notable one of which taking place in July 2022 when a staggering 40C was recorded for the first time – a temperature which scientists believed would never have occurred in the UK if not for climate change.
A minute amount of 78mm (3in) of rainfall has been recorded at Sheffield’s Weston Park weather station since the start of February which is the lowest since 1938.
We would typically expect to see around 184mm (7in) and, by a staggering contrast, the same period in 2024 was the sixth wettest on record in which 300mm (11.8in) fell.
Temperatures are expected to reach as high as 26C later – the average for late April is 14C and despite the them being expected to drop later in the week, there is little to no rain in the forecast as we approach May.
However, while the warm weather may be highly anticipated by both sunbathers and holidaymakers, it’s not universally welcomed.
This is evident with Dr Nick Wilson, a farmer in the Vale of York, who specialises in crops such as wheat and barley
He exclaimed that he had only recorded 20mm (0.7in) of rain at his farm in the last 10 weeks. “It’s a crucial time of the year for the development of crops,” he indicates “And with the lack of rainfall we are already looking at a 15% drop in crop yield. “More worryingly, if we don’t get any rain in the next week or 10 days, the yield could drop to potentially more than 20%.” This significant lack of rainfall is likely to have detrimental impact on prices in shops, inevitably leading to higher prices in the shops later in the year. “We’ve been hit from every side at the moment, whether it’s politically, economically or financially,” he says.