1930

1930 was marked by a dismal June and generally a poor summer, although there was a notable late heatwave in August. Heavy rainfall through July to September led to extensive crop damage. October 1929- January 1930 was the wettest four-month period on record, with 626 mm, until autumn 2000. This year possibly contained the summer of "Swallows and Amazons" (although there is some ambiguity whether this is 1929 or 1930).

January. Changeable and stormy first half; mild in the second half, with 16C recorded at Chester on the 19th. Notable gale in Hampshire on the 12th. It was settled in the south and east from the third week on.

February. Quiet, cold and dry everywhere. Sunny in the far north but dull in the east.

March. Cold easterlies at the start but then later in the month the wind changed to southerlies and southwesterlies, and it was much warmer in the final week. There were 19 cm of snow lying at Birmingham on the 15th. The coldest day of the winter happened on the remarkably late date of 20 March (-16.1C at Newport, Gwent) - a record. Sunny in the east, dull elsewhere.

April. Generally dull and wet but sunny in western Scotland.

May. Wet in the SE. Quite dull in parts of England but sunny in western Scotland.

June. Largely dry, sunny, and warm, but there were some severe storms on the 18th: 90 mm fell at Cheltenham and 68 mm at Greenwich.

July. A cool (15.2) and wet month. Exceptional rainfall in the North Yorkshire Wolds from the 20-23rd gave almost continual rain for four days, giving 250mm of rain, leading to flooding of the Derwent. The Whitby lifeboat was used for a rescue at Ruswarp, two miles inland. The rivers Esk and Leven were also severely affected, with bridges destroyed. Northerly winds gave a maximum of 11C. This was all caused by a depression lingering off the coast of Lincolnshire. England and Wales rainfall was twice the norm. Castleton (Yorks.) had 300mm for the month. The month had low daytime maxima, particularly from the 10th on, although because it was so cloudy the minima tended to be above average.

August. An interesting month, generally very wet with some severe thunderstorms and notable winds. Thunderstorms in the first week: 111mm at Cheddar on the 6th. An intense low moved NE across the country on the 20th, giving 25mm over Wales and the west; Rosthwaite (in the Lake District) had 160mm of rain on the 20-21st, and 500mm in the month. Cool and wet until the final week. Southerly winds then gave the most notable late heatwave since 1906: the temperature reached 33C at Cardington (Beds.) on the 28th, 34C (94F) at Camden Square and 33.9C (93F) at Rickmansworth on the 29th, and even Ruthwell (Dumfries & Galloway) reached 31C (87F) on the 27th. There were severe thunderstorms in the north on the 28th: 30 mm of rain fell in 24 minutes at Leuchars on the 29th. The 29-30th was a very warm night, with a minimum of 19C in the southeast. Humidity was high during this spell. Giant hail destroyed 1200 panes of glass of a hotel at Peebles on the 29th; there was flooding in the area. The month was sunny in the east but dull elsewhere. The winds changed to the north on the 31st and temperatures fell.

September. Warm, dull, and wet.

October. Wet and the west but dry and sunny in the east. 70F (21.1C) was recorded in London in a warm spell 15-17th, and the minimum in Manchester, Ross, and Margate on the nights of the 15th and 16th was as high as 60F.

November. Sunny but wet; cold in Scotland.

December. A quiet month, with a great deal of fog.