No actual measurements but here's how March turned out in the
Southampton area.

In common with the other months of 2010 so far, March began with a
fine sunny day which finally replaced the persistent damp gloom which
characterised the second half of February. The sunny weather was
persistent too, though it was unusually cold for March and
consequently didn't really feel like spring - the lack of seasonal
growth reinforced this perception. In some ways it was like an
exceptionally good spell of winter weather, but for the strength of
the sun and the late sunsets compared to true winter. The air was very
dry and, particularly over the first weekend, there was a cold E wind
- the combination of strong sun and drying wind was just what we
needed to deal with the unpleasant damp left over from February,
though higher temperatures would have been good.

The second week remained settled and cold but was cloudier; I have
less day-to-day recollection than in the first as the weather was more
non-descript. But the continuing dry conditions were welcome. The dry
spell broke on the 12th which was a rather showery day despite high
pressu then it became dry again over the weekend, and milder but
not that sunny.

Finally some spring like weather appeared on the 15th and 16th with
warm and sunny weather, but it proved to be a poisoned chalice as the
warmth was being drawn in from a low to the west which would dominate
the rest of the month. A quite astoundingly damp, gloomy spell for any
season of the year, even mid-winter, began on the 18th: the 18th,
19th, 20th, 22nd, and 23rd were all days of near constant day-gloom
(with light levels similar to midday in December on an overcast day)
and rain, which admittedly wasn't that heavy. The apparent time of
sunset ground to a halt and even seemed to move backwards at times,
further compounding the lack of evidence of spring. The 21st was the
one good day in this spell, dry and, particularly in the afternoon,
sunny and also warm.

The 24th-26th remained wet though there was less uniform dullness: the
25th was an interesting day in a way, though more reminiscent of late
summer/early autumn than March. It began with brightness though summer-
like humidity, then there was a spell of fairly heavy rain midday,
then a brief bright spell mid-afternoon before a summer like short
lived thunderstorm passed over slightly later in the afternoon.

The final few days of the month had the favoured position of lows
finally move eastwards, which, though it remained wet, meant we got
slightly less in the way of gloomy southerlies and more in the way of
brighter westerlies and northerlies. March ended much as February did,
with a retreating low, increasing brightness during the day, and cold
northerly winds - though sadly unlike Feb that wasn't the last in the
sequence. Maybe we'll be saying that next Wednesday though!

So despite the better first half, the quite appalling second half
together with the lack of any sustained warm and dry spells, and the
fact that the weather deteriorated later in the month (so going
against the seasons) means I'd rate March as another qualitatively
poor month, following February and November in recent months. Despite
the excitement in January, this has not been a great extended winter
here, indeed, overall, poorer than some mild and dry winters (IMO): if
only the whole weather pattern had been 100 to 200 miles further south
this winter would have been up there with the classics!

Nick