DROUGHT
I've mentioned the exceptionally wet Spring of 2000 a couple of times over the last few days, with relation to the current drought. Nobody remembers it at all. I do, though. It was astounding. Every day - torrential non-stop rain. As it turns out, the Met Office have a section on their website called 'Interesting Weather'. Here's the entry for April 2000.
A very wet start
After a dry March, the UK had a record-breaking wet April.
Heavy rainfall during the first 12 days of April produced a reversal of the traditional pattern, with significantly more rain falling in the east than the west.
Rainfall amounts over western Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were not too far from average. In contrast, eastern Scotland and much of England received three times the normal amount for the period.
Large parts of England and some parts of Scotland received well over (in some areas 50% over) the average rainfall amount for the whole of April.
At Heathrow, comparable quantities of rain in April have occurred on only four other occasions during the last 50 years, the most recent being in 1993.
So, rainfall is not so dim or distant a memory. Not yet, anyway.
I've mentioned the exceptionally wet Spring of 2000 a couple of times over the last few days, with relation to the current drought. Nobody remembers it at all. I do, though. It was astounding. Every day - torrential non-stop rain. As it turns out, the Met Office have a section on their website called 'Interesting Weather'. Here's the entry for April 2000.
A very wet start
After a dry March, the UK had a record-breaking wet April.
Heavy rainfall during the first 12 days of April produced a reversal of the traditional pattern, with significantly more rain falling in the east than the west.
Rainfall amounts over western Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were not too far from average. In contrast, eastern Scotland and much of England received three times the normal amount for the period.
Large parts of England and some parts of Scotland received well over (in some areas 50% over) the average rainfall amount for the whole of April.
At Heathrow, comparable quantities of rain in April have occurred on only four other occasions during the last 50 years, the most recent being in 1993.
So, rainfall is not so dim or distant a memory. Not yet, anyway.
