Midlands Climate
City Coverage: Birmingham, Coventry, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent, and Wolverhampton
This month in numbers
The Midlands experienced its 6th warmest April on record, with an average temperature of 9.9°C, a significant +2.6°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. The region also saw its 3rd sunniest April on record, basking in 229 hours of sunshine, which is 96 hours more than average. Looking at the broader picture, the period of February to April 2026 was the 3rd warmest on record for mean temperature, at 8.07°C, and notably, it recorded the fewest frost days ever for this three-month period, with just 6 days of frost.
What changed
This past April continued a trend of warmer conditions for the Midlands, following a February-April period that ranked as the 3rd warmest on record. The region's mean temperature for February to April was +2.9°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. This contrasts with the global land temperature for the same period, which was also the 2nd warmest on record, indicating a widespread warming trend. The Midlands also saw significantly fewer frost days, with the February-April period recording the 1st fewest frost days in 96 years of records, meaning 21 fewer mornings scraping ice off the car compared to a typical winter.
What’s driving change?
The warmer temperatures and reduced frost days in the Midlands are consistent with broader . The current ENSO state is Neutral, with an anomaly of +0.11°C for February-April 2026, though an El Niño phase is forecast to become dominant from May-July 2026 onwards, which typically brings cooler late winters to Northern Europe, though very strong El Niños have historically flipped this to warmer winters. In January 2026, Storm Goretti brought significant snowfall to the Midlands, described as a "once-in-a-decade" event, causing disruption and power outages for approximately 15,000 homes.
Looking ahead
The NOAA CPC probability forecast suggests an increasing likelihood of an El Niño phase developing from May-July 2026, becoming dominant through the summer and early autumn months, which could influence temperatures in the coming months for Northern Europe, generally tending towards cooler late winters.
Sources:
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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Data Sources
Data Sources for Midlands
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Midlands changing?
Midlands is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Midlands come from?
Climate data for Midlands comes from the UK Met Office HadUK-Grid (temperature, rainfall, sunshine, air frost), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Midlands climate data cover?
The Midlands climate profile covers Birmingham, Coventry, Nottingham, Derby and surrounding areas. Midlands climate data from the West Midlands to the East Midlands
How often is the Midlands climate update refreshed?
The Midlands climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.