The Met Office's automatic weather station has functioned continuously throughout the year with no gaps in the record at all.
The overlap continues between the old automatic station and the Met Office one, so our own automatic station continues to function. The ideal time scale for the overlap is 5% of the station record for long-standing sites, and never less than two years for shorter-lived sites. So that means ideally five years for us – of which we have now completed 3 years and 3 months – although if the old automatic station fails before that period is concluded I shan't ask for another overhaul.
Due to a combination of caring responsibilities and, latterly, ill-health, it has not been possible to update the website since early-2012. The intention remains to extend the data online further and further back when health permits.
Let me now briefly summarise the weather we've experienced during the last year.
SUMMER 2012 was both cold and wet although the weather relented somewhat after July 20, just in time for the Olympics. June was exceptionally wet with 151mm of rain setting a new record in our 103 year history, and July wasn't much better with 114mm though August was much drier with just 36mm. Overall, the summer quarter was also the wettest on record, and had the least sunshine since 1987.
AUTUMN 2012 began with three weeks of dry weather, but from 22nd September the rains returned. With a total of 353mm of rain it was the wettest autumn since 2002. Temperatures were rather below the normal, but it was marginally less cold than autumn 2008.
WINTER 2012-13 saw the rains continuing throughout December, but the weather changed abruptly with the year, and both January and February were drier than average. However, they were also rather cold months with lengthy wintry episodes from January 10–26, February 9-13, and February 21-28.
SPRING 2013 began with six weeks of exceptionally cold weather. It was the coldest March since 1962, and there were further snowfalls around March 12, and from March 23 to the end of the month. The weather improved in mid-April giving us three weeks of tolerably warm weather, but from May 8 onwards conditions again became cool and cloudy.
Philip Eden 18 June 2013
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Last updated 02-Jul-2013