High pressure dominated the weather pattern for most of March 2021, resulting in drier conditions than average, slightly warmer and sunnier days but with a fair number of frosty nights. It was not all fine weather of course, a weak weather front moved into the High pressure on the 3rd bringing a little rain. Low pressure took control on the 10th leading to an unsettled and rather windy spell which lasted until the 14th. Winds between North and East returned as High pressure again took control before the winds turned to between South and West after the 24th. This change brought milder air and some rain and was followed by a dry but windy period for the 27th and 28th as higher pressure developed across the SW of England.

In terms of statistics:

Rainfall for the month totalled between 35 and 40mm in the Dawlish and Teignmouth area which was well below the long term average (LTA) of nearly 70mm. Rainfall totals were a little higher in the Netherton and Kingsteignton area where 50mm was recorded. There were around 7 wet days which is below the LTA of 11 wet days and there were at least 21 dry days (LTA around 15 days). The wettest day was the 12th with between 12mm to 16mm of rain recorded in most places. There was only one day when the rainfall total was over 10mm.

The temperature for the month averaged out between 8 and 8.5 Celsius which was slightly above LTA of 7.9 Celsius. The highest temperature of between 16 and 17 Celsius was on the 24th in most places although some inland areas had similar values on the 29th. The lowest temperature was on the 8th when inland values dipped to between minus 3 and minus 5 Celsius whereas some coastal locations were closer to zero. The average number of March frosts at Teignmouth is 1 night but in this March most places had between 2 and 4 night frosts and Netherton 5 nights when the temperature fell below zero Celsius.

The sea temperature at the Dawlish Wave Buoy warmed a degree to 10 Celsius by the end of the month.

Long term average sunshine is around 122 hours at Teignmouth. The electronically recorded value at Dawlish and Teignmouth was 170 to 180 hours which is probably an over estimate because other official sites in SW England show only slightly above average sunshine. The estimate for Teignmouth and Dawlish is around 130 hours of sunshine.