Dr Phil Smith Arguably the most severe spring drought of modern times continued throughout April. Rachael Parks measured only 22 mm of rainfall in her Formby garden, this being about 40% of the expected amount. The Met Office tells us that the UK had the sunniest April on record and the third warmest since 1884;...
In my February notes I wondered whether the usual spring drought had started. I was right! The Met. Office tells us that March was extremely dry in the UK, many areas reporting less than 10 mm of rain. It was also the sunniest March in England since records began in 1910. Rachael Park’s Formby data...
According to the Met. Office, it was the fifth warmest December since records began in 1884. I don’t remember seeing any frost in Formby. The month was dull overall with rainfall a little above average in the UK. This fits with Rachael Park’s rainfall data from her garden in Formby. She recorded 121 mm in...
With deep puddles everywhere, it was obvious that the month was much wetter than normal. Rachael Parks recorded 19 rain-days with a total of 129 mm which is nearly twice the February average for Formby. As a result, the sand-dune water-table rose dramatically by almost 20 cm during the month, close to the record level...