Wet, Wet, Wet - For Some But Not All

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• Wet, Wet, Wet - For Some But Not All

05 December 2019

Many people in England will remember Autumn 2019 as a very wet season, yet this hasn’t been the case across the whole of the UK.

There was significant flooding in parts of the Midlands and days of prolonged rainfall. But this hasn’t been the case across the whole of the UK, as the map at the bottom of this page indicates.

Difference

There has been a marked difference in rainfall amounts between eastern parts of England and north western Scotland. Autumn rainfall records were broken for South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire, with the previous records set in 2000.

England as a whole has had its fifth wettest Autumn with 348mm.

Wettest county

South Yorkshire was the wettest county compared to the long-term average (1981-2010) with more than double its average rainfall for the month (425.4 mm compared to an average of 208 mm)

Sheffield has been a notably wet location, breaking its Autumn record weeks before the end of the season. It has now recorded 474.8mm, breaking its previous record of 425.2mm also set in 2000.

The location with the highest total through the Autumn was Holne on the southern edge of Dartmoor in Devon with 899mm.

Driest

The driest spot was Shoeburyness in Essex with 148mm. Conversely, northern and western Scotland have been much drier than average, with our north Scotland climate region having just 69% of the seasonal average (364.1mm).

East Midlands

In comparison to the rainfall distribution in 2000 when many Autumn records were set, this Autumn’s highest rainfall accumulations were very focused in the East Midlands. In 2000 the highest totals affected much of England and Wales, with just parts of Scotland ending the season below average.

Scotland

Sunshine hours have also been notably higher in northern Scotland when compared to the long-term average. Although the UK has seen 102% of its average sunshine, Shetland has received 130% of its average sunshine with 257 hours. In contrast the south coast of England was duller than average with 87% of average sunshine hours in Cornwall (285 hours).

Temperatures across the UK have been close to average over the Autumn, with the UK just 0.3°C below its average for the period.

Picture: The full map shows a dry Scotland and a wet east of England.

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 05 December 2019

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