Early in May and for the last five or six days of the month, high pressure brought fine and latterly some fairly warm weather across the district. For most of the month, however, low pressure dominated the weather patterns as a series of depressions moved across the UK. On the 3rd, 9th and 20th the depressions were unusually deep for the time of year. The associated weather systems brought periods of wet and at times windy weather across the Dawlish and Teignmouth district. Most notable was the wet period between the 8th and the 15th. On just two days, the 12 and 13th, enough rain fell to equal the average for a normal May.

In terms of statistics:

Rainfall for the month totalled between 180mm and 250mm in the Dawlish and Teignmouth area which was almost four times the long term average (LTA) of around 60mm. There were around 10 dry days (LTA 17), 14 to 18 days with rainfall of 1mm or more (LTA 9), as many as 10 days with at least 10mm of rain (LTA 2) and in places there were four days when 20mm or more of rain was recorded.

The temperature for the month averaged out between 10 and 11 Celsius, which is over a degree colder than normal. Lowest values were on the 1st and 2nd of the month when coastal temperatures dipped to around two or three Celsius but some inland locations had values close to or below freezing. Netherton recorded a low of minus one point six Celsius on the 2nd. The highest temperature between 18 and 21 Celsius was recorded during the last few days of May.

The sea temperature at the Dawlish Wave Buoy warmed to 13 Celsius by the end of the month.

Long term average sunshine is around 217 hours in Teignmouth but the estimated value for May 2021 was well below normal at 160 hours.