Spatiotemporal Variability and Influencing Factors of Long-Term Meteorological Drought During the Winter Wheat Growing Season over North China

North China is a major production base for winter wheat and one of the regions most severely affected by meteorological droughts. However, the stage-specific characteristics of drought variability and their response to large-scale atmospheric teleconnections remain insufficiently understood, limiting sustainable winter wheat production and food security. Based on monthly observational records from 1961 to 2021 and large-scale atmospheric circulation data, this study investigated the spatiotemporal evolution of long-term meteorological drought across the entire winter wheat growing season, as well as its linkages with atmospheric circulation through the integrated application of Sen’s slope estimation, Modified Mann-Kendall (MMK) test, run theory, and wavelet analysis. The results showed that the 12-month Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI-12) for each winter wheat growth stage exhibited significant upward trends over the study period, especially during the overwintering–jointing stage (0.0092 yr−1). The trends in SPEI-12 varied considerably across different growth stages, with pronounced drying detected in Shanxi Province, northern Hebei Province, and eastern Shandong Province. Drought frequency in Shanxi, northern Hebei, and southern Henan during the whole growth period was relatively high, yet drought duration and severity were generally low. SPEI-12 responded differently to circulation factors across the growth stages. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) showed the strongest coherence with SPEI-12 during the emergence–tillering stage (Percentage of Significant Coherence Area, PASC = 12.63%), whereas the Niño 3.4 Sea Surface Temperature Index (Niño 3.4) was most strongly associated with SPEI-12 during the overwintering–jointing (PASC = 12.27%) and booting–maturity (PASC = 10.00%) stages. These findings advance the understanding of winter wheat drought risk and teleconnection-driven drought patterns, with implications for sustainable agricultural strategies.