UKCP09: 1961-1990 Baseline Monthly Maximum Temperatures for UK Regions

UKCP09 provides long-term average monthly mean daily maximum temperatures in degrees Celsius for the 1961-1990 climate baseline. The dataset, created with financial support from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), contains values for 14 administrative regions and 23 river basins, each calculated as an average of underlying 5 x 5 km grid cells. Data files are provided as space-delimited text files requiring registration on the Met Office website for access.

Use Cases

• Establishing a historical climate baseline for regional climate models based on the 1961-1990 period.
• Analyzing seasonal temperature patterns across UK administrative regions based on monthly averages.
• Comparing temperature norms between different UK river basin districts.
• Validating or calibrating downscaled climate projections against a long-term observational average.

Strengths

• Provides a standardized 30-year climate baseline (1961-1990) recommended for climate projections.
• Covers two distinct spatial frameworks: 14 administrative regions and 23 river basins.
• Values are derived from a consistent 5 x 5 km grid, suggesting spatial interpolation was applied.

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, adding a step before data inspection.

Provenance

Source

Met Office, promoted by the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) as part of UK Climate Projections (UKCP09).

Collection Method

Regional values are averages of 5 x 5 km grid cell values falling within each region or river basin.

Time Range

1961-1990 baseline period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:33:02.796396; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United Kingdom, covering 14 administrative regions and 23 river basins.