A very dry, anticyclonic winter. A good start to the extended summer, which got worse as the year progressed. The best May of the century, however. Indeed, the equal second warmest spring of the century (9.93). The protracted, severe drought of 1988-1992 ended with the heavy rains of late summer. This is the last summer where 200 mm f rain was recorded in the London region in the summer. October was nearly as cold as November. Overall the year was cooler than average - a consequence of the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Phillippines in 1991 perhaps? At some times the sun was surrounded by a hazy brown ring in the summer (a result of the eruption putting gas and droplets into the atmosphere).

January. Very dry. A very anticyclonic month, particularly from the 11th on. The highest barometer reading for some time was set on the 26th: 1049 mbar. Slightly colder than average overall.

February. Mild and dry except in western Scotland.

March. Generally warm and dull. Indeed, some places along the south coast had the dullest March of the century. A cold snap with northerly winds in the north midmonth brought blizzards to the Scottish Highlands on the 13th and 14th. The maximum at Lerwick on the 14th was -3.3 (a new March record). Heavy rain and flooding in southeast Scotland and northeast England. Dry in the southwest, and wet in the northwest.

April. Very dull, and very wet, with widespread flooding in the Scottish Borders on the 2nd. Over 100 mm of rain fell between March 31 and April 2 from Fife to Northeast England.

May. The warmest May of the century (13.6) and the warmest since 1833. Sunny, but with violent thunderstorms at the end. 29C in Edinburgh on the 14th. Torrential rain in the Bristol area on the 23rd; about 24.3mm in an hour and a quarter, 17.5mm in just 10 minutes, with large joined hailstones (each piece about 9mm in diameter), and flooding in the Bath area. Large hailstones caused widespread crop damage in west Essex on the 26th. 100m of rain in parts, with severe flooding in Chorleywood and Rickmansworth, with landslips. A warm and thundery late spring Bank Holiday at the end: 27.0C at Southampton on the Saturday, 27.3C at Heathrow on the Sunday, and cumulating in 28.2C at Norwich on the Monday. This gets my vote as the most interesting May for weather of the century.

June. One of the warmest of the century (15.8), and the warmest since 1976 in many places. It was also mainly sunny and dry. Shetland reached 24.0C on the 9th - a June record. Very warm spell in Scotland 6-10th. Maximum of only 7C on the 19th in southeast England.

July. Cloudy, wet, but at least warm. Severe thunderstorms over the southeast on the 20-21st, with parts of Sussex, Kent, and East Anglia receiving 40mm.

August. Very wet and windy. England and Wales had their wettest August since 1956, and Scotland since 1985. A monthly total of 259mm of rain was recorded in Benbecula (Outer Hebrides) - 312% of normal, and caused by frontal rain (rather than thunderstorms). There were gales on the Bank Holiday. Indeed a record UK low pressure of 972 mbar for Auguist was set on the 30th in NE Scotland.

September. Cloudy, cool, and unsettled, with some heavy spells of rain, and in particular, some severe thunderstorms. There was giant hail at Foulness island (near Southend) early on the 9th that killed over 2000 wild birds; Norwich Cathedral was struck by lightning. On the 18th, Upton Scudamore (Wilts.) received 98 mm of rain in a prolonged storm. There was widespread flooding across N and W London and around the Rivers Nene and Ouse following overnight thunderstorms on the 22-23 (50 mm across a wide area; some places had 100 mm). Towards the end of the month, there was a warm spell, with temperatures reaching 25C at Marham (Norf.) and 25.6C at Elmstone (Kent) on the 28th.

October. Very cold (7.8) - the coldest since 1974. Northerly winds dominated, and the mean maximum was particularly low. There was a minimum of -5.0C at Bournemouth on the 17th, and -7C at Braemar on the 26th. Some snow in Scotland from midmonth. Wet, with heavy rain almost every day from the 18th-28th, with 46 mm at Cosby overnight on the 17-18th. It was the coldest October in Scotland since 1929. This was the last October there was any snow recorded in southern England (it happens about every 15 years on average).

November. A very wet month. Mild. Floods in Wales on the 30th, following 250mm of rain in 96 hours from the 29th. November was nearly as warm as October.

December. Unsettled and mild at the start, but with a late cold snap. Overall, cool and dry, except in the west. Serious flooding across Wales, the west, and Midlands in the first week. The flooding was worst in the Welsh valleys on the 3rd, following 200 mm of rain in the preceding ten days on the hills. There was heavy snowfall in Scotland on the 15-16th, with 45 cm of laying snow at Aviemore on the morning of the 16th. The temperature fell to -14.2C at Grantown-on-Spey on the 21st. It was a very foggy Christmas Day.