Local Meteorologist on Durham weather, history and climate

By Hugh Ludford

David O’Hara, born in Teeside in 1960, has been looking upwards his whole life. A childhood interest in science morphed into a teenage fascination with astronomy. For David, “meteorology came naturally after that. When I couldn’t see the stars, I could see the clouds!”

He began observing the weather almost fifty years ago, in 1974, using “a thermometer screen made from a baked bean tin cut in half and nailed to a fencepost”, and now runs his own weather station in Gilesgate, publishing the data for the benefit of the community. Palatinate caught up with David to talk about his passion for the meteorological, the local nuances of Durham’s weather, and the past – and future – of our climate.

After David’s initial foray into observing the weather, he began taking readings, but “several house moves meant I hadn’t any continuity in the early years.”

David moved back to Ferryhill – the County Durham town where he spent a portion of his childhood – in 1987, just, he recalls, “as Michael Fish made his famous ‘No Hurricane’ forecast”, one of the most (in)famous weather reports of all time. David remembers “feeling sorry for him”.

“One of Michael Fish’s colleagues, Jack Scott was from my town. His relatives actually lived in my street in Ferryhill in my teenage years, but regretfully I never met him.

From these famous weather figures of the past, David’s passion kept up with the times: “as we moved into the 1990’s I had bought a more sophisticated weather station and was uploading to the internet.

“I worked as a laboratory technician at a plastics factory in Aycliffe from about 1978. Everyone knew I was obsessed with weather. I even built a weather station at work to back up the testing of plastics for PVC window frames.

“I retired from work in 2016, by which time I’d moved to Durham. All the while I was at Ferryhill, I used to be sent the Durham Weather Reports from the University Observatory at Potters Bank.”

At the time, this was run by Helen Goldie, says David, who has since handed control to Emiritus Professor Tim Burt, with whom David is still in touch.

“He lives in the South West, but is able to collate the weather records from the Durham site remotely every month.

“I work in much the same way now. My weather station in Gilesgate is remotely accessed and I can see what’s going on as I travel. The technology is so much better now than it ever was in the 1990’s. Everything is automatic.

“Meteorology came naturally after [atronomy]. When I couldn’t see the stars, I could see the clouds!”
David O’Hara

“The weather station itself just trundles away and I just write up a summary for my website at durhamukweather.com every month.”

On this website, David publishes 7- and 14-day weather guides for Durham, and blogs about the local meteorology. His website aims “to provide valuable information to our local community, and educate about the weather through topical articles and research.”

“I decided that it was pointless keeping the data to myself, so I started up the Facebook page as well so I could publish there and let the locals have access.”

This Facebook group – Durham Weather Station – posts similar weather updates as well as links to articles, contributors’ photos of Durham weather and historical pieces about the weather of the past.

David’s site has in recent years faced a challenge though.

He says that on social media “unfortunately the modern way seems to be to trash science. The place is infested with conspiracy theorists, and deniers who publish their own misinformation. It’s very easy for people to be misled, and it’s frustrating for the people who put in life’s work to be just dismissed.”

This has led to David starting The Weather Accelerator – a community on a site called Skool, where we conducted this interview. The site description includes “debunking anti-science” and “squashing conspiracy theorists”.

“GUARANTEED CHEMTRAIL, CONSPIRACY, CLIMATE DENIER FREE” reads part of the new site’s description. David hopes that this will “provide an area for people to ask questions and learn about the weather, without having to continually fend off the people who want to tear the science down.”

On the topic of climate change, I was interested to learn more about how the global process is manifesting in Durham.

“For some people,” he says, “climate change is rather like the frog being slowly boiled. It doesn’t realise it’s being boiled, but it is and will be cooked without jumping out of the water. It just thinks things are normal, maybe a little warmer than yesterday, but hey it’s just a frog.”

“In Durham … all months are now warmer than they were. Winters have warmed a lot and Spring is close behind. Winters seem to be a lot shorter and February is becoming almost a Spring month. At the other end of the year, Octobers are now much milder”
David O’Hara

“The younger people haven’t lived long enough yet to see the changes us older folks have seen. Their own personal record of weather isn’t long enough to know any different. If they were born after 2000, they’ll be used to the climate of the new millennium, that is about 1-2 degrees warmer than before.

“It’s important for people to realise that the climate they live in now is warmer and becoming much more extreme than it has been in the past. The only way to do that is to keep records of course and the Durham Observatory record is the 2nd longest in the country after Oxford Ratcliffe.

“In Durham … all months are now warmer than they were. Winters have warmed a lot and Spring is close behind. Winters seem to be a lot shorter and February is becoming almost a Spring month. At the other end of the year, Octobers are now much milder.”

David notes that for new students, particularly international students who are yet to experience a Durham winter, “these days the Durham weather is a good deal warmer than it was. We rarely get winter months like December 2010 and all of the months of the year have warmed considerably now. With climate change increasing it’s pace, I expect that to continue.”

Generally, he says, “the weather in this part of the UK is heavily influenced by the North Sea. It keeps things cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Durham is also in the rain shadow of the Pennines to the west. We get downpours every now and then, but we are a lot drier than the Western side of the country.”

Speaking of the winter of 2010, David says its “the best thing [he has] had a measure of at the weather station” when he caught it at Ferryhill. Deep snow covered County Durham for “the last really cold month we had.”

David also mentioned the hot weather of July 2022, when parts of the country eclipsed 40 degree heat, and Durham Observatory hit its highest-ever temperature of 36.9 degrees since records began in the 1840s.

“The climate has gone to levels I didn’t think possible, all culminating with 19th July 2022 which broke the Durham temperature record by an astonishing 4 degrees.”

David is a real trove of local history and weather. Recently, a post on his website recounted Durham’s wettest days – many of which he has recorded. David recalls “some colossal floods on the River too, with The Half Moon beer garden filled with water, ‘The Grand Canyon of Durham’ and a red Ka floating past The Radisson Hotel.”

David recalls “some colossal floods on the River too, with The Half Moon beer garden filled with water, ‘The Grand Canyon of Durham’ and a red Ka floating past The Radisson Hotel”
David O’Hara

Other highlights of his weather observations would be the hot summers of 1975 and ’76 – which meant his baked bean tin thermometer from back in the day got “tested well” – the winter of 1978-79, as well as many eighties winters, and the Beast from the East in 1991.

David seems to have a real sense of service to the local community, and a commendable generosity in sharing his knowledge, passion and of course his weather station. The next time there is some newsworthy weather, we at Palatinate know who to speak to.

Featured image: hayley green / Durham, weir on the Wear