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Weather Overview for Birmingham

Birmingham, in the UK’s west Midlands, receives a mild temperate climate. Mild summers are followed by mild autumns which lead into mild winters that become mild springs. Rainfall levels could be called mild too, all year round. It’s pretty mild in Birmingham; but then it’s pretty mild all over England. Mild.

Summer begins in mid June and lasts into mid September. In June the average high temperature is 19°C and by the end of the month it can get into the 20s. Mid July sees an average high of 21°C, but that is the pitiful peak of the English summer. It gets back down to 20°C in August and 18°C in September. Night times are cool seeing average lows around 10°C. Summer months can expect around six hours of sunshine per day. Rainfall is moderate as always. However, all of these averages mean little when it comes to fickle British weather. Wonderful mini heat waves in the mid 20s with days of uninterrupted sunshine can be followed by thunderstorms, or the entire summer can trudge along in a muggy grey waste of a season. In recent years there has been little heat or sun and we’re all hoping for a change.

Autumn, from mid September till November, sees the average high temperatures drop from 18°C in September, to 14°C in October and down to 9°C in November. Night times get cold going from jacket weather in October to thick coat weather in November. The sunshine dwindles from four hours per day in September, to two hours in November, as the days shorten and the nights lengthen. Rainfall is moderate. It stays as usual in its amount but becomes insistent in frequency in the form of tedious drizzle.

Winter, from December till the end of eternity (mid March), begins with another cutback on sunshine. December sees a disgraceful one hour of sunshine per day. It is true that the days are shorter and there is less opportunity for the sun to perform, but the main problem is the stubborn nature of the clouds. After December the sun begins to assert itself for an extra hour a day. The average day time high drops to its lowest of 6°C in January and February, which see average lows of 1°C. Surprisingly, rain remains moderate. Frosts are common but snow is disappointingly rare. Again, who knows what will actually happen from moment to moment? Winters can sometimes be blessed with high pressure systems bringing prolonged periods of stunning bright sunshine and crisp air. A weather front from Siberia brought freak cold weather to Britain this year (Feb 2009) and up to a foot of snow in some places, paralysing Birmingham and the rest of the country.

Spring, from mid March till mid June, sees average high temperatures steadily rising from 9°C in March, to 15°C in April and 19°C in May. Night times remain very chilly and it continues to rain moderately whenever it pleases. The sun returns to its peak of six hours per day by the end of the season.

Birmingham’s climate can be attributed to its position on an island in the northern Hemisphere. Cool temperatures are moderated by the sea, which is particularly warm as the island sits in the Gulf Stream, though Birmingham is quite far from the sea and is not as affected as coastal areas. The weather’s unpredictability can be put down to the confusion of weather fronts that England receives from every direction.