"Nick G" wrote in message
...
I'm not a meteorologist either but this winter dry spell is probably down
to natural variability and next year we could be inundated with rainfall,
overall though there is a pattern of ever increasingly drier summers, and
this applies to much of England but is more enhanced in the south-east.
________________
Nick G
Exe Valley, Devon
50 m amsl

It certainly seems to be down to natural variability here in Penzance,
although admittedly I'm not in the SE.
Winter rainfall totals as a % of the 1971-2000 norm being:-

Winter % of Norm
92/93 76
93/94 152
94/95 112
95/96 107
96/97 66
97/98 84
98/99 108
99/00 128
00/01 133
01/02 97
02/03 110
03/04 99
04/05 57
Av of the 13 years 102%
7 Winters wetter than average, 6 drier.

Overall it's beem getting slightly wetter in recent decades
1971-1980 Average - 1140.9mm
1981-1990 Average - 1165.9mm
1991-2000 Average - 1261.2mm
& warmer
1961-1990 Mean Temp - 11.1
1971-2000 Mean Temp - 11.3
1991-2000 Mean Temp - 11.6

Graham