March was milder and sunnier and despite rainfall totals being near or a little above average there were more dry days.

March started very wet as low pressure, which was close to the Isles of Scilly, trailed weather fronts across the district as the low trundled slowly north. From the 4th a ridge of high pressure developed bringing several dry days. The high pressure slipped eastwards allowing low pressure to edge in from the west leading to changeable weather between the 9th and 16th. High pressure then developed leading to a predominantly dry second half of the month, until a weak cold front brought some showers and even a few snow flurries on the 31st.

In terms of statistics (30 year averages 1981 to 2010):

Rainfall totals across the district were between 60 and 90mm which is near or a little above average. The higher totals were partly due to the 20 to 40mm of rain that fell on the 1st and 2nd of the month. Despite the higher rain totals there were fewer wet days, 8 days compared to 11 days. There were around 21 dry days compared to the long term average of 15 days.

The temperature for the month averaged out between eight and a half and nine Celsius which was about half a degree above average. The warmest day was the 24th when temperatures reached 17 Celsius at the coast and a degree or two higher inland. The coldest temperatures for many were on the morning of the 31st but some places were colder on the 17th. Coastal areas remained free from air frost but inland there was some. Netherton for example recorded 4 nights with an air frost. In general there were several nights when a ground frost occurred.

Winds were often from between South and East and there were several quite windy days (7, 11, 12 and 19th) and anticyclonic southeasterlies probably produced the strongest winds on the 7th.

The sea temperature at the Dawlish wave buoy started the month at 9 Celsius, rose to 11 Celsius in the sunshine but dropped back to 10 Celsius at the end of the month.

Sunshine, estimated at around 160 hours, was well above average.

In summary, compared to the 1981 to 2010 average, March 2022 was milder, sunnier and wetter in terms of rain totals but had fewer wet days.