I’m in good company as the Met Office in the UK has said this February is the mildest on record. It’s the mildest I’ve recorded over my fifteen years of record keeping too. This year the average temperature I’ve recorded at home was 7.4°C (45.3°F) beating the previous record set last year of 6.9°C or 44.4°F. The Met Office has given a figure of 7.5°C for this February. I have to say though a quick check online of the Central England Temperature Record suggests February 1779 was 7.9°C so maybe this February isn’t the warmest ever.
Having said that though, it was a thoroughly wet month with some rainfall on most days. We had some rainfall on 20 days during the month. It never seemed to dry up all month.
Not surprisingly winter also turned out to be one of the mildest I’ve recorded equalling the winter of 2014/15 with an average of 6.4°C (43.6°F) and contined February’s theme of mild and wet. It finished fourth wettest in my records with 206.2mm or 8.1in.
We now start meteorological spring hoping for some dryer weather for us to begin to sort out some beds for planting at the allotment. The beds are far too waterlogged at the moment. I know from experience that digging them when they are too wet makes breaking them down to a fine tilth once they’ve dried out very difficult.
I’ve already sown some onions, shallots and lettuce which have been germinated inside. I’ll soon have to consider moving the onion and shallot seedlings into the greenhouse. I’ll risk leaving the lettuce seedlings to grow on for as long as possible under the lights indoors.
I’m planning to sow our first batch of brassicas over the next few days. These will hopefully produce an early crop of cabbages, cauliflowers and calabrese. Sowing them last year at this time produced a good early crop so I’ll try a repeat this season.
Mild foggy and mizzly in Cornwall ….as usual ! 🌦️
I’m fed up of our weather now Debs.