2006 was definitely an unusual year. We were subjected to gales, floods, droughts, tornadoes and heat waves. Judging by the number of people that talked about the weather it must have been an interesting year. Records tumbled almost daily and the monthly figures made interesting reading too. The averages, however, made things look pretty normal. How figures can lie!

The rainfall in 2006 was the highest for a decade but the number of wet days appeared quite normal. These figures gave no clue to the fierce drought of the summer. The fact that August was the wettest month also hid this. The total annual rainfall at Ringshall was 748.5mm. In the eleven months from February it was 730mm, which looks enormous compared with the 416mm that fell in Doug Harper’s garden in Ipswich. It was the nature of a lot of the rain to be delivered in isolated showers (or in many cases deluges). Temperatures were higher, making this the hottest year ever recorded. The average daytime temperature at Ringshall was 16.9ºC and Doug’s figures show that Ipswich was close to this. Although this was the highest daytime average the night time temperatures I recorded tell a different story - they were only the fifth highest I have recorded with values close in most other years.

October
After the warmest September on record October tried hard to compete. Temperatures were well up on the average. I recorded an average maximum of 18.8ºC against the East Anglian average of 15ºC and a minimum of 9ºC against the normal 7ºC.

Ringshall won too in the ‘wet’ stakes. I recorded 95mm whilst the average was 56mm. Doug in Ipswich was drier than Ringshall with 79.4mm, which is still high for the month.

October can be a variable month and has a reputation for being the driest month. This is not so in my records of the last decade. Interestingly in1836 the rain fell in the form of heavy blizzards. Newmarket racecourse had to be cleared and still the horses raced.

November
November was also a month that tried hard to keep temperatures up. Although there were some cold spells, overall this was the warmest autumn on record with average temperatures 3ºC above normal. On Guy Fawkes Night in 1938 a record daytime temperature of 21ºC was recorded in both Cambridge and Mildenhall, but this did not make that year a record breaker overall.

Rainfall for the month was more or less average. This month was the sunniest for 17 years with hours of sunshine 30% higher than normal.

December
This month completed the warmest ever year. I recorded an average maximum of 9.3ºC against a norm of 7.2ºC. The minimum at Ringshall averaged 3ºC compared with the more usual 1.6ºC. Rainfall was average. In 1981 December was the coldest for 100 years with the average temperature being 3ºC down.

January 2007
The New Year came roaring in and was not happy for many people. After a very stormy start gales swept the county on two days. There was structural damage and many homes were without electricity for several days. Just to add to the misery, parts of the county also suffered bad flooding. The month then turned very cold before leaving like a lamb, with warm, spring-like weather.

The average maximum temperature was up by nearly 4ºC but the minimum temperature was 1.5ºC down. Rainfall was about normal despite the flooding. Again this illustrates the effects of scattered rainstorms, a phenomenon we can expect more often as the climate changes.

On a final chilly note, in 1985 January was the coldest month ever known in East Anglia. The temperature at Loddon in Norfolk fell to –20ºC. Perhaps we should all emigrate for this month! Perhaps by the time I compile the next Weatherfront it will be good news all the way. Or maybe not?

      Andrew Toomey