1967

1967 was another poor year from the 60s. The summer of love may have been warm for the 60s, but, for comparison, there were 9 hotter months in the 90s. There were 38 thunder days in Huddersfield this year.

January. Slightly milder than average overall, although the first half was cold and dry, with a notable snowfall in parts, particularly the SE, on the 6-7th. The mild second half of the month more than made up for it.

February. Quite mild.

March. An unsettled month with mainly westerly winds. It was the wettest of the century in Scotland. It was very stormy at times in the north and west. A gust of almost 144 mph was recorded on Cairngorm on the 6th.

April. Very slightly cooler than average.

May. The wettest of the century in England and Wales, with an average of 141 mm. It was also one of the most thundery months on record: thunder was heard on 16 days at West Raynham (Norfolk). The May Bank holiday was very wet.

June. Very close to the long-term average temperature overall. Cool and unsettled start; then a finer, dry spell. The final ten days were cool and unsettled. There were some violent thunderstorms on the 24th and 25th: 36 mm if rain fell in 42 minutes at Aberystwyth on the 24th. A party of six potholers were drowned in a flash flood in the Mossdale caving disaster, near Wharfedale, Yorkshire, following torrential rain on the 24th of June.

July. The second warmest (16.7) month of the 60s. There were some severe thunder and hailstorms on the 13th, particularly around the Chippenham-Melksham area of Wiltshire, where large (57g) hailstones caused devastation to glass.

August. It was hot in the SE on the 1st, with 30C reached in some places. It then became unsettled until the 19th. There were some severe thunderstorms and flash-flooding in the north on the 8th as a depression passed near the SW. 75 mm of rain in three hours in north Lancashire, with 117 mm at 90 minutes in the Dunsop Valley. Villages were cut off, and there was flooding in Wray (Lancs.), with rivers bursting their banks and bridges collapsing; the village was cut off for four hours. Lightning deaths. The storm continued into the night, and there were more the next day. On the 9th, there was 54 mm of rain in Huddersfield, and 52 mm at Ilfracombe. On the 10th the Test Match at Trent Bridge (Nottingham) was delayed by a severe thunderstorm, flooding the ground.

September. Another very average month for temperatures overall.

October. A pretty average month for temperature (CET 10.8C), although the month was very wet and stormy. Some places received three times the monthly average of rain. On the 9th, Great Langdale in Cumbria recorded 146 mm of rain. On the 16th, 25 mm or more fell across much of England and Wales. On the 27th a gust of wind of 94.4 mph was recorded at Portland Bill. It was a sunny month in the north.

November. Relatively dry; a quiet spell in mid-month brought hard frost and a touch of snow to many areas. Generally cool and sunny. It was disturbed at first, then quiet and mild at times, but with some notable geographic variations: 17C in the southeast on the 11th. More unsettled in the last week. The maximum at Carlisle on the 26th was only -2C. In Portugal up to 700 people died in flooding on the 25th and 26th around Lisbon.

December. Overall dry and sunny, with alternating cold and mild spells. There was a cold outbreak around the 8th-9th. Heavy snowfall in Dorset on the 9th. 45 cm of snow in North Wales on the 8th; as the cold air hit mild air on the south coast, there were thunderstorms along the channel and eight hours of snow in Brighton giving 28 cm, restricted to the coast. Temperatures fell to -13C in places, and the coldest day of the year was -14.4C at Carnwath (Strathclyde) on the 10th. Milder air arrived on the 11th. Another 60s cold spell for the south that I don't remember at all.