Wales enjoys sunniest spring on record

Wales has had its sunniest spring on record, the Met Office said.

Some 648 hours of sunshine were clocked between March 1 and May 28 – higher than the UK average.

Kathryn Chalk, a Met Office meteorologist, said the provisional figure beats the previous peak of 647 hours in 2020.

She said: “It’ll remain often cloudy across Wales today and into tomorrow, but some more brighter interludes are likely on Saturday as we end spring.”

The UK as a whole has clocked 636.8 hours of sunshine in spring this year, beating the 626 hours set in 2020.

Wales joins Scotland and Ireland in setting new peaks but England has not yet set a new record, Ms Chalk said.

Met Office sunshine data goes back to 1910.

Dry

On Wednesday, Met Office scientist Emily Carlisle said: “We all remember the exceptionally sunny spring of 2020 but that title has now been surpassed by the spring of 2025.

“It has indeed been an extremely sunny and dry spring for the majority, but with a few days left of the season and more unsettled weather this week, it’s too early to say what will happen with other records.”

Figures for rainfall are due to be published by the Met Office later this week.

They are likely to show the UK has experienced one of its driest springs, despite heavy downpours in some areas in recent days.

Wildfires

Wales has faced a huge number of wildfires this year, with March being the driest since 1944, according to Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

By the middle of April, Wales’ three fire services had responded to more than 1,300 grass fires, with charities warning some areas could take decades to recover from the destruction.

Last week, NRW moved the country into “prolonged dry weather” status, with many rivers reported to be “low or exceptionally low”.

Rhian Thomas, sustainable water and nature manager at NRW, said: “Such a dry start to the year is causing considerable concern for the health of our ecosystems and habitats, as well as for land management and the agricultural sector.

“As such, we have taken the decision to move the whole of Wales into prolonged dry weather status.

“For us, this means stepping up our actions and monitoring across Wales to help mitigate the impacts on the environment, land, water users and people, and responding to environmental incidents.

“Our drought teams will continue to meet regularly to review the status.”

Ms Thomas urged people and businesses to “use water wisely” to ensure water can continue to be supplied without damaging the environment.