UKCP09: Regional Growing Season Length Baseline Averages for UK

UKCP09 provides long-term average growing season length data for the UK's 1961-1990 climate baseline. The dataset contains annual averages for 14 administrative regions and 23 river basins, calculated from 5 x 5 km grid cell values. It was created with support from Defra and promoted by the UK Climate Impacts Programme.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical climate change impacts on agriculture based on growing season length averages.
• Compare regional climate variability across UK administrative regions based on the 14-region breakdown.
• Establish baseline conditions for climate projection models using the 1961-1990 reference period.
• Assess hydrological impacts on river basins based on the 23 river basin values.

Strengths

• Data covers a 30-year climate baseline period (1961-1990).
• Values are provided for two distinct spatial aggregations: 14 administrative regions and 23 river basins.
• Data is derived from spatially averaged 5 x 5 km grid cell values.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Access requires registration on the Met Office website.

Provenance

Source

Met Office

Collection Method

Averaging of 5 x 5 km grid cell values within defined regions.

Time Range

1961-1990

Geography

United Kingdom (administrative regions and river basins)