"Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom wrote in message
.. .
As of this morning the England and Wales rainfall for December
stands at 42.5mm, which brings the total for 2003 to date to
719.0mm ... now wetter than 1921 and 1933 during the last
100 years.

We need 13mm to pass 1964, 23mm to pass 1973, and
36mm to pass 1996. So there's a reasonable chance that
this will end up being the driest year since 1973, possibly even
since 1964.

Here in Penzance the driest year I've recorded (records start 1991) was
1995, followed by 1996.

I am currently just 1.2mm behind the 1995 figure and 33.9mm behind the 1996
figure and have recorded 84% of the 1971-2000 norm.
July 2003 was actually the wettest July I've recorded, due largely to a
couple of very intense thunderstorms.

Graham
Penzance