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graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 576 For   DECEMBER  2003
                  A CHANGEABLE MONTH BUT MOST AREAS QUITE SUNNY
Text Box: Anticyclonic, southwesterly and northerly weather types alternated during the course of December, resulting in a reduced westerly flow over the British Isles compared with the norm. The main sea-level pressure anomaly centres were -12mbar in the Barents Sea and +8mbar over the mid-Atlantic. Over the British Isles the range was from +1mbar along the English Channel coast to +5mbar in northwest Ireland. Low pressure near southern England brought widespread rain on the 1st and 2nd, Jersey airport recording 54mm in the 48 hours to 09GMT on the 2nd, but northern Scotland was mainly sunny. An anticyclonic eposide followed between the 3rd and 9th, bringing plenty of sunshine by day, but frost and fog at night. On the 3rd and 4th fog was slow to clear in eastern England, but early on the 5th the temperature climbed to 14.9°C at Aberdeen airport, the highest December reading there since 1994. The 8th was a foggy day in parts of Scotland, and at Strathallan, near Perth, the day maximum was only -3.3°C. Atlantic disturbances crossed the country between the 10th and 13th bringing mild and rainy weather - up to 15°C at Gloucester and Exeter on the 11th - followed by a brief northerly outbreak on the 14th and 15th with sunny periods and a few wintry showers. Pressure was relatively high fron the 15th to the 19th with plentiful sunshine, but at night there was widespread frost and patchy fog. A deepening depression crossed Wales and northern England on the 20th accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds, and the rain turned to snow over the Scottish hills. In its wake a strong northerly flow delivered heavy snow showers to northern and eastern Scotland and eastern England on the 21st/22nd, with a 20cm snow cover for a time over the North York Moors.
Text Box: A warm front brought general rain overnight on the 22nd/23rd and the next four days were generally cloudy and mild with rain at times, heaviest over high ground in the West and North - 90mm fell at Shap (Cumbria) in 48 hours on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The flow veered northerly again by the 28th and a series of depressions brought heavy rain to southern England and the Channel Islands between the 27th and 29th with 74mm in 72 hours at Shanklin (Isle of Wight). North of the Thames the rain turned to wet snow at times, though little settled at low levels; meanwhile the northern half of the UK was mostly fine and frosty. On the 30th at Altnaharra (Sutherland) the temperature rose from -14.9°C at dawn to -9.1°C by early afternoon, dropping back to -15.8°C by mid-evening. The month's lowest temperature of -16.1°C occurred overnight 30th/31st at Kinbrace (also in Sutherland) and this was the lowest December reading anywhere in the UK since 1995. As the year drew to a close, a deep depression brought widespread rain with heavy snow over hills; winds rose to gale force, disrupting many Hogmanay celebrations, and a peak gust of 81kn was logged at Fair Isle. Mean temperature was within 0.5 degC of the 1971-2000 mean in most areas although parts of northern Scotland were about 1 degC above. Rainfall was mostly within 20 per cent of normal, but the south coast between Dorset and Sussex was very wet with excesses of 40-80 per cent, while much of Northern Ireland reported deficits of 20-40 per cent. Sunshine duration was generally above average - by more than 50 per cent locally in the north Midlands, Yorkshire and Shetland.
                                                                                                                                         
                       TEMPERATURE                                SUNSHINE                            RAINFALL        
                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                 
                                          Highest and lowest totals                     Highest and lowest totals        
                                              on record for month    
Maximum fall in 24 hrs (beginning 09 h)
                    on record for month    
Days with snow or sleet
 
Days with fog (Vis <220 yards at 09 h)
 
                                                                                         
     
Difference from average
   
Difference from average
 
Highest maximum
   
Lowest minimum
   
No. of days with grass minimum below 0ºC
   
Days of no sunshine
 
Maximum duration
       
First year of record
         
Days of no rainfall (0.1 mm or less)
         
First year of record
         
Days with thunder
     
       PLACE  
Mean Maximum
   
Mean minimum
             
No. of air frosts
       
Total for month
                   
Total for month
                   
                               
% of average
                   
% of average
                 
                                                                     
                                   
Highest
   
Lowest
 
Year
             
Highest
   
Lowest
 
Year
       
             
Date
   
Date
         
Date
         
Year<