IT was the coldest April since 2001 in most places across the region with the average minimum temperature barely above January's.

The 6th was widely the chilliest night of the month with thermometers sinking to their lowest in April for 30 years in some locations.

Having said that, April, as for March, was only slightly on the cool side when compared to the means over the past 25 years. If values for 1971-2000 are used, the month was pretty well spot on the norm.

It was much colder than last April when mean maxima were over 4C (7F) higher. That month was more like a May and, as I'm sure many will remember, turned out to be the pick of the months during our "summer."

On the other hand, this April was appreciably warmer than the one in 1986, with maxima around 3C (5F) higher. That April was more typical of a cool, wintry March .

Rainfall was above expectations, by just a shade in parts but up to 50pc in excess for others.

Here at Carlton, near Stokesley, we had only 10mm (0.4ins) in April 2007 but suffered a 169mm (6.65ins) deluge in that of 2000, the second wettest month of any in my 25-year record.

Pressure was rising at the end of March so that an anticyclone was sitting close to the Scilly Isles by the start of April. This provided a welcome taste of spring and, perhaps, fooled us as well into looking forward to a repeat of last year's brilliant April.

Such thoughts were soon dispelled as, over the next 16 days, the weather did its utmost to be just the opposite. This period was especially cold with mercury levels similar to those during the whole of that abysmal April in 1986.

The week-end of the 5th/6th was quite a shock with the return of winter. It could also have been the Easter holiday and was certainly as unpleasant as the one we had experienced a fortnight before.

The Monday was generally the coldest day of the month and for some, this happened a mere four days after the hottest. Showers were frequent, particularly in the east, with snow even at the coast.

By mid-month, south-westerlies tried to push into England but were kept at bay as the anticyclone now extended eastward from Iceland to Scandinavia. The breeze veered slowly round to an easterly point, increasing steadily.

So, it remained cool and by the third week-end, although dry, it felt bitter in the wind.

By Tuesday the 22nd, Atlantic systems at last made progress across Britain. A southerly picked up and it suddenly became warm but with rain at times, too.

Quantities weren't large, at least until the following Sunday morning, when a depression passed close by on its trek north-east over the country. Another, meandering north across England on the final Wednesday, produced some torrential rain in the early hours, giving generally the wettest day of the month.

April temperatures and rainfall at Carlton-in-Cleveland - mean max: 11.3C, 52.5F (-0.6C, -1F); mean min: 3.5C, 38.5F (-0.6C, -1F); highest max: 17.4C, 63.5F, 26th; lowest min: -4.1C, 24.5F, 6th; total rainfall: 62mm, 2.45ins (+3mm, +0.1ins); Wettest Day: 12mm, 0.45ins, 29th and no. of rain days, with 0.2mm (0.01ins) or more: 20 (+5.5). Figures in brackets show the difference from the 24-year mean, 1984-2007.