Easter weather facts in Coventry 1978-2023

Easter can fall in a period of 35 days because it is calculated as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. In recent years, the earliest Easter was over the weekend of the 22-24 March in 2008, which was one of our coldest Easters over the past 40 years or so, and the latest was in 2011, when Easter fell between the 23-25 April; not surprisingly this was one of our warmest!

If Easter is early, there's a chance that we could get some snow; in fact, it is more likely to snow in March than it is in December. The later Easter is, the better the weather is likely to be.

Warmest Easter

The warmest 4-day Easter weekend in Coventry averages 22.2C by day at Bablake in 2019, just ahead of 2011 (22.0C) and 2019 (19.6C), but way above the fourth warmest Easter of 1979 at just 17.4C.

The warmest Easter Sundays in Coventry was 22.7C in 2019 & 21.5C in 2020; before this, we only managed a highest of 18.7C in 2007, followed by 18.0 in 1979.

Sunniest Easter

For Easters which fall late in April, we should be able to record more than 12 hours of sunshine per day, though over the past 40 years or so, 10.4 hours of sunshine was the best we could manage on Easter Sunday in 1990; this record was swept away in 2019 however with 12.5hr of sunshine

So, over the 4-day Easter weekend, with clear blue skies, we ought to be able to record 50 hours of sunshine in Coventry, though 40.4hr held the record in 1980, until 2019 that is, with 46.6hr of sun.

Easter 2018 was a dull affair, with just 3.7hr of sunshine recorded at Bablake over the whole 4-day weekend, with Easter 2012 not much better off with 4.2hr of sunshine!

Coldest Easter

Not surprisingly, our coldest Easter came in late March, with the 4-day average temperature by day from Good Friday to Easter Monday in Coventry, just 4.2C in 2013, with 2018 (5.5C) and 2008 (6.0C) not far behind.

As for cold weather on Easter Sunday itself, the overnight minimum temperature at Bablake fell to -4.0C in 2013, rather chilly even by winter standards. Even by day, the maximum only rose to 4.5C in 2013.

Wettest Easter

The wettest 4-day Easter holiday in Coventry in 2018 saw 38.6mm of rain in the gauge at Bablake, well ahead of the 25.2mm in 1985.

By contrast, 7 Easter weekends have been completely dry in Coventry since 1978, in 1981, 1984, 1992, 1996, 1997,2005 and 2019.

As for Easter Sunday itself, 1985 was the wettest on record with 22.4mm of rain falling in Coventry, with 20.8mm in 2016 and 17.4mm in 2018.

There was thunder over Easter in Coventry in 1983 and 1986.

You may have noticed that Easter 2018 was the wettest and dullest in Coventry in the past 40 years or so, though a year later, we had our best Easter ever!

Snowy Easter

It has often been said that snow is more common at Easter than it is at Christmas in our region!

Sleet or snow has fallen during the Easter weekend in Coventry on 9 occasions since 1978, in 1983, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1998 2008, 2013 2016 and 2021.

Snow fell on all 4 days over Easter in 2008, with gales and hail making it a thoroughly miserable cold weekend.