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graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 586 For   OCTOBER  2004
        VERY WET, ESPECIALLY IN EASTERN SCOTLAND AND NORTHEAST  ENGLAND
Text Box: The extended westerly spell which began in the second week of September lasted until the 6th, followed by brief northerly, anticyclonic and easterly episodes. A long cyclonic period occupied the period 13th-29th, followed by a sharp rise in pressure on the 30th/31st. The mean Icelandic low was displaced towards Scotland, and the Azores high was almost non-existent. Sea-level pressure anomalies ranged from -10mbar over Cornwall to +11mbar over southern Greenland. A very disturbed south-westerly type persisted until the 6th with deep Atlantic depressions becoming slow-moving between Scotland and Iceland; that of 3rd/4th contained some tropical remnants. Heavy rain and strong winds affected all parts of the UK at intervals, 115mm of rain fell in 48 hours at Capel Curig in Snowdonia, and a short-lived tornado was reported from Paulton, Somerset. The incursion of tropical air on the 3rd led to a minimum that night of 15.6ēC at Thorney Island in West Sussex. Southern Britain become much brighter from the 4th onwards, and as pressure rose over the country on the 7th and 8th most areas enjoyed longer sunny periods - 10.8 hours at Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, on the 7th - with fewer showers. Between the 9th and 12th an anticyclone migrated from Scotland to the Baltic, and low pressure over Biscay and France induced a stiff easterly flow over the UK. The weather was cool and sunny for a while with local frost overnight, but southern districts became cloudier from the 10th with local rain, and a prolonged downpour affected the Channel Islands on the 11th/12th with 66mm falling at Jersey airport in the 24 hours to 1800 on the 12th. Low pressure stagnated over the country between the 13th and 17th bringing outbreaks of heavy rain (with local thunder) and flooding was reported from London, Wales, Northern Ireland and eastern Scotland. A multiple tornado outbreak was reported from the Horsham district of West Sussex on the 14th. There was a brief respite around the 18th, although it became cold in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and a maximum of just 4.3ēC was recorded at Dalwhinnie, Inverness-shire, on the 20th. Between the 20th and 25th a succession of active depressions tracked north-east across the UK bringing
Text Box: further heavy rain and gales. At Llansadwrn, Anglesey, 91mm fell in the 24 hours ending 0600 on the 23rd, and serious flooding affected Anglesey and Caernarfon. Capel Curig collected 250mm of rain between the 14th and 25th. A maximum of 19.0ēC at Gravesend, Kent, on the 24th was the month’s highest, but early on the 26th clearing skies in Scotland led to a sharp frost in the far north with -3.9ēC at Altnaharra and Kinbrace, both in Sutherland. The next depression deepened to 953 mbar in the Southwest Approaches early on the 27th, subsequently filling slowly in situ over the next three days. The worst of the rain and wind was confined to southwest England and south Wales, but the combination of heavy seas, swell, a wind-driven tidal surge, and spring tides led to serious coastal flooding in south Cornwall and south Devon, widely reckoned to be the worst in the area since at least 1962. On the 28th a woman died in Corfe Castle, Dorset, during the a severe, possibly tornadic, squall. Rising pressure during the 30th and 31st led to a mostly quiet end to the month, and the 30th in particular was warm and sunny in Southeast England. It was a rather cold October in Scotland and Northern Ireland with mean temperature locally 1.0-1.5 degC below normal, whereas much of Southeast England was 0.5-1.0 degC warmer than average. The absence of warm days was a notable feature: the highest reading to hand of 19.0ēC has been exceeded in every October since 1974. Rainfall was well above normal in all regions, but for England and Wales there were wetter Octobers in 1987, 1998 and 2000, while those of 2001 and 2002 were almost as wet. Leuchars, Fife, reported its wettest October since the station opened in 1921 - in fact it was the wettest in the Leuchars/St.Andrews/Cupar area since rainfall recording began there in 1866 - and it was the wettest in a composite record for the Vale of York since 1903. Sunshine ranged from 30 per cent above normal at Falmouth to 60 per cent below at Aviemore; it was the dullest October in the Glenmore Forest/mid-Strathspey district since 1974.
                                                                                                                                           
                       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 0ēC
   
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