March 2025 Commentary
March has been a delightful month with regards to the number of days with beautiful sunshine and just a few rainy days, making it easily the driest March this century.
The month started with a brief spell of freezing night-time temperatures with average day-time figures but this was followed by a see-saw of mild days and cold nights. However, the second half of the month produced some higher day-time temperatures when the sun was particularly appreciated if you were in a place shielded from the often cold easterly wind.
The only rainfall of any consequence during March fell during the night of the 21st and 22nd, otherwise there were few days when there was measurable rainfall.
The average temperature for March was almost exactly 9C which is only slightly above the last decade's average for the month despite the many hours of sunshine.
The total rainfall for March was a meagre 11.9mm (less than half an inch) which can be compared with an average figure of 114 mm(nearly 4.5 inches) for the month over the last ten years.
While the footpaths around the edge of the village have become baked and hard, the primroses have become even more abundant while adders have been seen this early in the year within Beauvoir and Simsay, occasionally causing consternation among dog-walkers.
Philip Spray