January kicked off the new year with warmer-than-usual temperatures and below-average rainfall, making it a relatively mild start to 2025. With an average temperature of 14.5°C, the month was a whopping 1.6°C warmer than the usual January norm.

The warmest day of the month was January 27th, when temperatures peaked at 19.4°C. However, this was still far from the record-breaking 25.8°C, that was registered in January 2021.

Meanwhile, the coldest night came on January 16th, when temperatures dropped to 7.2°C. Even so, this was nowhere near the historic low of 1.4°C, recorded in all the way back in 1981.

Rainfall was also below average, with the Meteorological Office recording 69.2 mm, which is 10.1 mm less than the usual January quota. The month was also quite short of thunderstorms too, with only two recorded - that's two fewer than the monthly average.

While the overall wind speed remained in line with the norm (8.9 knots), January 17th saw gale-force winds, with the strongest gust blowing at a mighty 45 knots from a southeasterly direction, causing some chaos across the islands. 

That same day, along with January 4th, was the darkest of the month, with less than an hour of sunshine recorded. In contrast, the brightest day was January 27th, boasting 8.9 hours of sunshine - now that's more like it!

While January may not have brought extreme weather, its mild temperatures and reduced rainfall were the cause of some concern at the start of the year. Although it seems unlikely, with the frequent and sometimes heavy rainfall this month has already brought, only time will tell whether February will be breaking some records of its own!

Did you enjoy this year's unusually balmy January?