On Fri, 7 Nov 2003 13:16:15 -0000, "Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom
wrote:


"JPG" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 7 Nov 2003 12:26:53 -0000, "Philip Eden"
philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom
wrote:


Yesterday's highest in the UK to hand was 18.8ºC at Northolt.
In the last 100 years 18ºC has been reached in 49 Novembers
somewhere in the UK, 19ºC in 19 Novembers, and 20ºC in
four, and 21ºC in two.

Even the heavily quoted Heathrow record yesterday was not
really unusual ... 18.4ºC beat the record of 18.3ºC set in
Nov.1984, there was an 18.2ºC in 1994, and 18.1ºC in 1996 and
an 18.0ºC in 1982. And the London Weather Centre had 19.2ºC
on 3rd November 1994.

There is a fairly obvious journalistic "spin" put on weather records as
they
help to fill column inches when journos run out of Royal Family/sport type
stories.

Thank goodness we haven't yet picked up on the slightly ludicrous American
habit
of having records for a specific date.

Oh, J.Peasemold, you must have known as you pressed the "send" key ...

From Whitaker's Almanack 2003, page 1254:
"At Colwyn Bay and Hawarden the maximum temperature of 16.9ºC
on the 30th [Nov 2001] broke the record for the last day of the month."

Source of data: UKMO

I stand corrected. I must say I have not been a great almanac reader (except
Wisden's) since my grandmother used to leave "Old Moore's" lying around with all
its astrological weather forecasts.

JPG




Philip Eden
(Very occasionally guilty of the offence too)