January: a grey time was had by all

England was yesterday heading for its dullest January yet and only last-minute sunshine looked set to stop the month beating an 80-year record.

There was an average of 0.8 hours' sunshine a day across England and Wales, compared to the record of 0.9 hours set in 1917. But it would only be the fourth gloomiest month on record, as the title of greyest goes to December 1939, with 0.12 hours of sun a day. Sunshine records in England and Wales began in 1909.

Across Britain last month, the dullest place was the Shetland Islands, which until 27 January had had a total of 1.8 hours of sunshine.