Since there has usually been a statistics thread for an entire season these days, I have decided that it would be a good idea to start one for the entire year which has just passed but since these don't tend to be all that popular in terms of just being actual statistics threads, I have decided to allow members to also share their best memories of the year either in addition to or instead of the actual statistics as I'm sure that this will be far more interesting than just a set of statistics on their own.

Given below, are the final statistics for Edinburgh, Gogarbank for the whole of 2018 from all of the data which I have available which are:

Temperature (°C):

Lowest Min: -6.1 (on 8/1)
Highest Min: 16.6 (on 8/7)
Mean Min: 5.9
Min. Anomaly: +0.4

Lowest Max: -1.8 (on 28/2)
Highest Max: 28.0 (on 28/6 and 27/7)
Mean Max: 12.6
Max. Anomaly: +0.1

Ave. Temp.: 9.2
Temp. Anomaly: +0.2

Month with lowest ave. temp. February: 3.3
Month with highest ave. temp. July: 16.9

Air Frosts: 40 (74.8% of 1981-2010 average)
Ice Days: 2

Rainfall (mm):

Total for Year: 616.2 (81.7% of 1981/2010 average)
Wettest Day: 26.4 (on 20/6)
Rain Days: 123 (89.6% of 1981/2010 average)
Dry Days: 173

Month With Lowest Rainfall Amount May: 15.4 (31.4% of 1981/2010 average)
Month With Highest Rainfall Amount January: 86.4 (113.2% of 1981/2010 average)

Month With Fewest Rain Days May: 4 (35.1% of 1981/2010 average)
Month With Most Rain Days January: 18 (132.4% of 1981/2010 average)

Sunshine Totals (hrs):

Total For Year: 1406.0 (104.7% of 1981-2010 average)
Sunniest Day: 16.3 (on 24/6)
Sunless Days: 56

Dullest Month December: 48.0 (136.0% of 1981-2010 average)
Sunniest Month May: 212.2 (112.7% of 1981-2010 average)

Conclusion:

The year of 2018 brought some interesting weather events. The year started off on a mild and sunny, but rather wet start but then we had that SSW event at the beginning of February which is thought to have lead to the really cold end to that month and the really cold start to March which brought quite a lot of snow to this part of the world.

That led to the Spring being a tale of two halves as it started off a rather cold and wet note and then, ended on a much drier and warmer note. That then led us into quite a hot, dry and sunny summer with the best weather coming in the first half of it and by August, the rainfall totals during that month were around average with it being a bit cooler as well.

the autumn was drier than average, but with a slightly wetter than average month in November. The autumn was also slightly warmer than average, especially during November but then this led us into a very dry December here although the rainfall totals during the first half of that month were around average.

Overall, 2018 was a slightly warmer than average year, but a substantially drier and sunnier than average year.

All though we never got the snow levels as others did from the Beast from the East, seeing drfiting snow and ground blizzards at near sea level was something.

16 January: Two thundersnow showers in the evening. I counted three lightning flashes and at least four thunder cracks. Ironically it was the best thunder event of the year.
26 February-3 March: The Beast from the East. Deepest snow cover since January 2010 on the 1 March.
17-19 March: An exceptionally cold and snowy weekend for so late in the year. A high of 0.5C on 18 March was very remarkable.
18-21 April: Remarkable warmth and sunshine for so early in the year. 25.7C on 19 April was incredible!
May Day bank holiday weekend: By far the sunniest and warmest BH weekend I've experienced. All three days were virtually unbroken sunshine and 27.1C on the Monday was fantastic.
May-early August: Pretty self-explanatory. Despite my inexperience, never have I seen such an incredible and prolonged spell of heat and sunshine during a UK summer before! I certainly believe it won't be topped for a very long time.
9-13 October: Lovely Indian summer spell. Unbroken sunshine and 22.5C on 10 October.

It's a shame how after the summer faded in early August, the year sort of went a bit boring. Also 2018 was a pathetic year for thunder, which I find astounding considering it had such a fantastic hot summer!

Just from memory:

Winter 2017/18: Another winter with a lack of notable gales.

Cold snap with frequent dense snow showers that turned into a full on whiteout at the end of Feb/early March.

Prolonged warm/hot spell from May 21st to mid-June, with an observed close by funnel cloud on the 7th June which brought gusty winds for a few mins, followed by severe thunderstorm the next day.  

Another hot spell in last 3rd of June and early July, with scant rainfall.

Mediocre August.

Unremarkable Autumn. 

Unmemorable Winter 2018/19 (so far)

The beast from the east that brought cold and snow during March!  The long hot summer days. All the excitement on the CET threads as we watched records topple! 

2018 will for me be forever remembered as the year I feel I missed out on.

The BftE brought only small amounts of snow to MBY, which didn't stick around that long. This neck of the woods was one of the worst places to be in the UK.

Then the great early summer seemed to whizz by in a blur without me and my family taking full advantage - the main factor being that the best weather had passed by the time the kids broke up for their summer holidays. We never got round to having that big party/BBQ we'd pencilled in for some time, and had only one beach day due to having other things on (not least the girls' cheer every Saturday)

But I did enjoy the day after day in May/June of an easterly flow, meaning that for once NW England got the best of sunshine.

No stats, but weather related highlights.....

23rd February - A night out in St Ives that was bitterly cold. Seriously cold. 

28th February - Watching the snow on webcams, waiting for it to hit Truro. Lizard being a total 'White Out' in a blizzard.

9th June - Running Classic Quarter from Lizard to Lands End. Exceptionally hot, virtually no wind.

20th - 30th June - A very hot spell which I was at home recovering from having Appendix removed. (Well timed!)

27th July - Driving from Cornwall to Norfolk. Amazing lightning storms from Midlands onwards.

28th July - How warm the North Sea was at Overstrand. 

12th October - Being in Porthleven whilst it took a battering from Storm Callum. 

2018 was a fantastic year.

Only one highlight and that was the memorable spell from mid-April to mid-July which brought the longest absolute drought since 1953 and the sunniest three month period since 1921.

This was solely responsible for the sun total exceeding 1700 hours for the year. According to the Met Office map part of the Moray Firth coast managed over 1800 hours

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/pub/data/weather/uk/climate/anomacts/2018/17/2018_17_Sunshine_Actual.gif 

Very rare for anywhere in Scotland to reach that level though Dunbar recorded 1880 hours in 1955 which is the highest total I know of. Sadly these days few places record sunshine and many that do the records are highly questionable such as Dyce which has been recording zero on several days recently when there has been sun.

Rest of the year was very bland and uninteresting. Another terrible year for snow.

So - a quarter of a year; not a moan!

Here - a fab year. Cold late Feb and a daytime max of -3 on 1st March. Two warm, sunny May bank holidays with heat and brilliant lightning shows at the end of May. Stunning weather June through July and a week of August. Warmest October day for 7 years followed by coldest October day in my records. Beautiful spring-like warmth in early December.

Year rating: 7.2 (just beaten by 2011). 

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the data for my backyard show a very average year overall.

Temperatures were just 0.2C above average with a cold February, March, September and October offsetting warm weather in January. April, July and December.

Rainfall was almost exactly in line with average despite a very dry first half to the summer.

FULL SIZE IMAGE

Average temperature = 9.2°C (+0.1C)

Average humidity = 83%

Average dewpoint = 6.3°C

Average barometer = 1013.5 mb

Average windspeed = 6.1 mph

Average gustspeed = 9.2 mph

Average direction = 246° (WSW)

Rainfall for year = 724.5 mm (-70mm)

Maximum rain per minute = 1.7 mm on day 16 at time 23:46 month 7

Maximum temperature = 27.9°C on day 26 at time 16:41 month 7

Minimum temperature = -6.1°C on day 28 at time 19:32 month 2

Maximum humidity = 93% on day 12 at time 13:23 month 4

Minimum humidity = 35% on day 30 at time 15:11 month 11

Maximum dewpoint = 21.5°C on day 27 at time 17:22 month 7

Minimum dewpoint = -9.8°C on day 28 at time 13:42 month 2

Maximum pressure = 1037.6 mb on day 24 at time 20:38 month 9

Minimum pressure = 973.4 mb on day 02 at time 19:41 month 1

Maximum windspeed = 39.1 mph 338°(NNW) on day 11 at time 01:38 month 2

Maximum gust speed = 58.7 mph 180°( S ) on day 12 at time 15:33 month 10

Total windrun = 44554.5miles

Maximum heat index = 29.1°C on day 26 at time 15:11 month 7

Given below, are the final statistics for The Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh for the whole of 2018 from all of the data which I have available which are:

Temperature (°C):

Lowest Min: -6.2 (on 8/1)
Highest Min: 17.1 (on 8/7)
Mean Min: 6.1
Min. Anomaly: +0.3

Lowest Max: -0.7 (on 28/2)
Highest Max: 26.4 (on 27/7)
Mean Max: 12.7
Max. Anomaly: 0.0

Ave. Temp.: 9.3
Temp. Anomaly: +0.1

Month with lowest ave. temp. February: 2.9
Month with highest ave. temp. July: 16.5

Air Frosts: 47 (102.2% of 1981-2010 average)
Ice Days: 1

Rainfall (mm):

Total for Year: 597.2 (84.8% of 1981/2010 average)
Wettest Day: 28.0 (on 20/6)
Rain Days: 124 (99.8% of 1981/2010 average)
Dry Days: 156

Month With Lowest Rainfall Amount May: 16.6 (33.9% of 1981/2010 average)
Month With Highest Rainfall Amount March: 77.8 (150.5% of 1981/2010 average)

Month With Fewest Rain Days May: 5 (52.1% of 1981/2010 average)
Month With Most Rain Days January: 17 (136.0% of 1981/2010 average)

Sunshine Totals (hrs):

Total For Year: 1569.4 (110.0% of 1981-2010 average)
Sunniest Day: 15.5 (on 1/7)
Sunless Days: 64

Dullest Month January: 52.4 (97.9% of 1981-2010 average)
Sunniest Month July: 220.4 (128.0% of 1981-2010 average)

Here are my statistics from Folkestone.

Max +32.6c on 26th July

Min -4.8c on 8th February

Days with a maximum temperature above 20c (68f) = 113.

Average temperature for the year = 11.70c

Highest pressure = 1038.9 Hpa (25th September)

Lowest pressure = 984.7 Hpa (12th March)

Rainfall total = 819.4 mm

Wettest day = 62.6 mm (30th April)

Rain days (over 1mm) = 123

Bone dry days = 197

Days with sleet /snow falling = 14

No. of days with snowcover at 9am >1cm = 4 (Max 2cm on 18th March)

Thunder days = 14

Air frosts = 24