Warm and Rather Dry
Temperatures
The average maximum temperature during April 2020 in Shoreham was 16.7 Celsius (62F), and that was about 2 Celsius (3.5F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 7.2 Celsius (45F), and that was around 0.5 Celsius (<1F) above the April normal. It was the warmest April in the area for 9 years.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 22.8 Celsius (73F) on the 9th, but the following day was only 0.1 Celsius (<0.2F) less warm. There were 6 other days when the temperature rose above 20 Celsius (68F). No particularly cold days occurred during April. In fact, only 9 days had maximum temperatures below 14 Celsius (57F). Of these cooler days, just 3 had maxima below 12 Celsius (54F) On the 1st, a high of 11.4 Celsius (52F) was recorded, with 11.1 Celsius (52F) occurring on the 13th. However, the coolest day of the month was the 28th when the temperature struggled to 10.8 Celsius (51F).
A few mild nights occurred during April, and on 4 occasions minima were above 10 Celsius (50F). On the 6th and 17th lows were between 10 and 11 Celsius (50-52F), but 11.7 Celsius (53F) was recorded on the 10th, and 13.3 Celsius (56F) occurred on the following night, the mildest night of the month. On most nights (17) minima were within the range of 6 to 10 Celsius (43-50F), but several colder nights occurred. However, only 2 nights had minimum temperatures below 3 Celsius (37F). The 15th had a low of 2.5 Celsius (37F), but the first night of the month was coldest with 0.2 Celsius (32F) recorded.
The sea temperature rose steadily during the first 3 weeks from 8 or 9 Celsius (46-48F), to 11 or 12 Celsius (52-54F), where it remained for the rest of the month.
Frost
No air frosts occurred during April, but there were 4 grass frosts. On the 1st, a grass minimum of minus 3.3 Celsius (26F) occurred, but the other grass frosts were very slight, with minus 0.6 Celsius (31F) recorded on both the 4th and 7th, with minus 1.1 Celsius (30f) noted on the 15th.
Rain
Rainfall in April amounted to 26.6 millimetres (1.1 ins.). This was about 20% below average for the month. There were only 5 days of measurable rain, and that was 5 days below average. Although a little rain fell early on the 6th, it was not enough to trouble the rain-gauge. The first measurable rain, the first for 19 days, was not until the 17th when 5.4 millimetres (0.2 ins.) fell, with most of the rain falling in the early hours of the 18th. Another 9 days passed before further rain fell, during which time there were 6 days (19th-24th) when there was unbroken sunshine from dawn to dusk. Rain late on the evening of the 27th continued overnight with 8.8 millimetres (0.35 ins.) recorded by 0900 UTC. on the 28th. The remainder of the month was changeable with showers or longer spells of rain. Each of the last 4 days of the month had measurable rain, including 7.8 millimetres (0.3 ins.) on the 29th.
Hail
No hail was observed in this part of Shoreham during April.
Thunder
No thunder was heard in this part of Shoreham during April. However, lightning was seen towards the south on 3 evenings, the 16th, 17th and 30th.
Snow
No sleet or snow fell during April.
Wind
There were a few occasions during the first week, and again at the end of the month, when winds blew from the southwest or northwest, but unusually, from the 9th to the 25th breezes were constantly from between southeast and northeast. On most days the wind was light or moderate, but fresh, occasionally strong, northeast winds occurred during the third week, and southwesterlies gave a blustery end to the month.. At Shoreham Airport, northeast winds gusted to 32 knots (37 mph) on the morning of the 13th, and to a similar velocity around lunch-time on the 21st. On the afternoon of the 30th southwest winds gusted to 36 knots (41 mph).
Fog
There was early fog on the morning of the 4th.
Statistics for April 2020
| Reporting Station | Highest Temp | Lowest Temp | Rain Total (mm) | Wettest | Rain days |
| Shoreham Airport | 20.9 | -1.1 | 42 | 17 | 5 |
| Thorney Island | 20.7 | -0.6 | 70 | 20 | 6 |
| Gatwick A/P | 24.7 | -3.2 | 43 | 22 | 5 |
| Herstmonceux | 24.3 | -0.4 | 41 | 13 | 6 |
| Bournemouth (Hurn) | 23.2 | -3.3 | 51 | 18 | 6 |
| Middle Wallop | 24.2 | -1.5 | 67 | 24 | 6 |
| Dieppe | 22.3 | 0.4 | 27 | 12 | 10 |