April 2012 was cool and extremely wet, in marked contrast to March. The average temperature of 7.2°C was 0.7 degrees cooler than normal, mainly as a result of low daytime maxima rather than cold nights. Remarkably, the mean, maximum and minimum April temperatures were all lower than the equivalents for the previous month. Rainfall was more than double the 30-year average at about 108mm (April is normally quite a dry month in Acton Bridge). Nationally, April 2012 was the wettest, and among the coolest, on record.

March 2012 was generally mild, and at 8.3°C, more than two degrees above average temperature. There was only one frost (-0.6°C on the 6th), and a remarkably warm final week, with three days exceeding 20°C. It was also very dry, at a mere 42% of the long-term average, with only two significant rain events, around the 3rd and the 17th. There was no rain at all from the 18th onwards.

February 2012 was, at 4.5°C, close to the average temperature, and very slightly dry. The first part of the month was cold, with 8 air-frosts in the first 11 nights, but the remainder was mild, with some exceptionally high night-time minima and daytime maxima (such as 9.3°C and 16.9°C on the 23rd), bringing the average back up.

January 2012 was mild and slightly wet. The average temperature of 5.7°C was nearly two degrees above the long-term average, and rainfall at 69.2 mm was 6% above normal. Until late in the month it was very mild, with some remarkably warm night-time minima, but the last week reverted to type. The first week or so was very windy, with a gust of 43.5 kt (50 mph, 80 kph) bringing down trees on the 5th.