[BUTTERFLY]

The December rainfall in my garden was 99.3 mm and the years total was 1052.9 mm, compared with 88.2 mm and 946.3 mm respectively at my place of work about 2 km. away, the annual figure in my garden being 111.3% of that at my place of work.

[StratoQ]

A final figure of 771mm for the year here - which is 94% of the 1961-1990 norm.

The driest since 2005.

[BUTTERFLY]

Philip Eden's website at http://www.climate-uk.com/page3.html often gives the highest and lowest totals for rainfall and sunshine in each month, usually in the last paragraph of the text above the table. In 2011, at least 10 months seemed to have recorded less than an inch (14 mm in January at Dishforth in North Yorkshire, 2 mm in March at Cambridge, <5 mm at a number of places in Southern England in April, though I think somewhere, possibly in Northants, recorded only 1 mm, 4 mm in May at Manston in Kent, 21 mm in June at Moulton Park, Northants, 18 mm in July, surprisingly at Kirkwall, Orkney, 19 mm in August at Newport in Shropshire, 9 mm in September at Cranwell in Lincolnshire, 21 mm in October at Hampstead in London though this may not be the lowest figure, and 11 mm at Bridlington in Yorkshire in November). The full report for December is not yet available, although as http://www.climate-uk.com/page2.html indicates that even in East Anglia rainfall was 99% of normal, I suspect that possibly no site had less than 25 mm. http://www.climate-u...onthly/1102.htm states that parts of East Anglia and South-east England had slightly below the average and as February would probably be a pretty dry month here, it is possible that 1 or more sites there did record less than 25 mm although the driest given at is 44 mm at Wittering.

http://www.metoffice...y/averages.html indicates that the average february rainfall for East Anglia and SE England is 37.2 mm and 53.9 mm respectively, while http://www.metoffice...r/averages.html indicates that the December averages are 57.1 mm for East Anglia and 86.1 mm for SE & Central Southern England. http://www.climate-u...onthly/1102.htm indicates that only 27 mm fell at Edgbaston in February, so it possible that some places recorded less than 25 mm. So possibly every month from January to November 2011 produced at least a site recording less than 25 mm and if so, as it also have happened in December 2010 when 13 mm fell at Lyneham in Wiltshire, though rainfall totals may be too low due to snow clinging to raingauges, etc (http://www.climate-u...onthly/1012.htm), that may make 12 such months in a row (from December 2010 to November 2011 that a site in Britain recorded less than 25 mm. I suspect this run of low monthly totals is pretty rare, though may not be quite unprecedented.

[Les]

These are my 2011 rainfall readings from my site in rural Midlothian.*=Where snow and ice may have effected the readings.

Jan...................66.0mm*
Feb...................93.3mm
Mar...................57.4mm
Apr...................22.5mm
May...................52.5mm
Jun...................88.8mm
Jul..................124.5mm
Aug..................202.0mm
Sep...................87.3mm
Oct...................98.1mm
Nov...................36.3mm
Dec...................58.3mm

TOTAL................987.0mm

[Chris Alder]

Chris Alder, on 01 January 2012 - 14:38, said:

A reasonably wet December 83.4mm (compared to the rest of the year) meant I just crept over 600mm at 605.1mm making it slightly drier than last years 634mm. Still about 200mm under the average for this area.

Thinking about this another way 10% of my yearly rain fell in just over one hour during the morning of 18th August!