The weather in 2022 was characterised by prolonged periods of dry weather resulting in a large shortfall in average annual rainfall. Summer temperatures were also anomalously high. The year was brought to a close with a short sharp cold snap resulting in several days of ice cover across the Reserve. It should be noted that the long-term averages are taken from Boulmer as this is closest place with a reliable long-term data set. Lindisfarne will have a slightly different micro-climate but the rainfall, temperature and wind should be broadly comparable.
Rainfall
Right from the outset 2022 was dry. January recorded just 11.6mm
of rainfall; far below the average of 58.07. As can be seen from figure 1; once
the shortfall of rainfall began it never recovered with 10 out of 12 months
being drier than average. This resulted in a 217.4mm rainfall deficit in 2022
or just 68.4% of annual average rainfall. This had a profound effect on the NNR
with many slacks drying out and remaining dry throughout the rest of the year
even when rainfall increased at the back end of the year, indicating that the
water table was extremely low and struggling to recharge. Many of the orchid
species came through late or not at all. Species that did emerge were often
stunted and scorched due to lack of available water. The dunes experienced two
separate wildfires; one in April and a second occurring in July. This is unprecedented
as the preceeding 20 years only had a single occurrence. Whilst the fires were
likely to have originated from human activity the dune grassland had to be in a
tinderbox state for the fires to spread as readily as they did. Luckily when
the fires occurred the wind was light and the robust NNR wildfire action plan
meant that the fires were put out quickly and losses amounted to 2 acres of
dune grassland.
Thankfully after storm Arwen in November 2021; the wind in
2022 was kind to us. February was the windiest month with gusts regularly
exceeding 40mph and peaking over 60mph. After February high pressure was in
charge for extended periods leaving the Reserve with settled, calm conditions.
The wind rose below shows the prevailing wind throughout 2022 was
westerly/south-westerly as would be expected across the UK. Northerly winds
were a rarity but there was frequent bout of south-easterlies. This aided the
impressive shorebird productivity this season with generally light winds
resulting in little sand blow and minimal swell during spring tides.
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| Wind rose showing the prevailing wind direction during 2022 |
Temperature
Lindisfarne NNR never experiences extremes of temperature
due to its position nestled up against the North Sea. The sea forms a warming
blanket in the winter and a cooling effect in the summer, meaning generally
milder conditions prevail.
The UK saw record breaking temperatures this summer, topping
40 celcius in three separate locations but Holy Island still experienced
several days above 26 celcius peaking at 27.7 celcius on the 19th
July. Temperatures were higher on the mainland with temperatures in the low
30’s experienced widely along the Northumberland coast. Night-time temperatures
hovered at a sweltering 17/18 celcius for three consecutive nights making it
feel more like a night on the Costa del Sol!
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| Temperature (Red) and barometer trace (Grey) from Saturday 16th – Friday 22nd July 2022 |
On the other end of the scale in December we experienced a
notable cold snap. The winds were generally from the north-west and not out of
the east so the Reserve didn’t experience significant snowfall but it was so
cold that ice was freely forming on the causeway and many of the paths were
covered in a thick sheet of ice for over a week. The lowest temperature of the
year was recorded on the 13th December when the temperature bottomed
out at -7.4 Celcius early in the morning. The temperature then didn’t exceed 0
Celcius all day making it the first ‘ice day’ since the weather
station was installed in November 2021.
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| December on the Reserve. Temperature is Red and barometer trace is grey |
The temperature then rebounded by the 19th and remained above average until the end of the year. The temperature range for the year was 35.1 Celcius.
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