February

February started with sunny days and cold nights. It then turned colder and misty. Parts of the county experienced night temperatures of –9ºC. Ringshall was cold enough for me at –5ºC. We even had proper snow which is becoming a rare feature of our winters.

Overall, the month was warmer than last year with a daytime average of 10.2ºC against last year’s 7.5ºC. The night time average was 2.3ºC (1.25ºC in February 2006). The East Anglian averages for the month are 7.2ºC and 0.5ºC, so this year has been noticeably warmer. Twelve air frosts can be expected normally so Ringshall got off lightly with only nine. Temperatures over the last twelve years have varied a lot. The warmest daytime average was 11.3ºC in 1998 and 3.3ºC the warmest night time average in 2002.

Rainfall has varied more than temperatures over a twelve year period. This year we had 73mm whilst in 2001 I recorded 93mm and in 2004 only a measly 1.4mm. The East Anglian average is 38mm and the wettest record of 95mm was in 1881. Wind was variable in strength but almost exclusively southerly being shared evenly between South-east and South-west.

March

March was one of the warmest in my twelve year period. Those who remember the month may be surprised at this. The average daytime temperature was 13ºC bettered only by 13.3ºC in 1997. The night average of 4ºC was fourth by a similar small margin.

As the buds of the blackthorn burst, the temperatures dropped. We had real snow again which caused problems in the north of the county and even made a good showing in Ringshall. The first wave missed us but clobbered Haughley, which is very close as the snowflake flies. We had a fair amount of rain. The total was 48mm which makes it near to the wettest March in my records and above the East Anglian average of 38.1mm. Some very heavy showers caused bad flooding in parts of the county. This was not helped by the very high tides which caused more problems at the coast.

The wind made matters worse, making the tides more aggressive and causing problems inland too. On most days the wind came from a northerly direction switching between east and west.

All in all it was not a month we wish to repeat but the sun did make an appearance finally. This helped us to lift the mood and approach the next month in a more cheerful frame of mind.

April

Having survived a tempestuous March we then experienced a record breaking month. April was both the warmest and the sunniest ever. It also happened to be the ninth driest ever in the east.

The average day temperature in Ringshall was 19.7ºC and the night average was 6.4ºC. The sun cheered us and even Easter was pleasant although thick cloud arrived by Easter Monday to remind us it was a Bank Holiday. However, the sun returned and although it had to battle against thick cloud for a few days we will remember April as a sunny month.

Rain was in very short supply. I recorded 1.6mm which evaporated as it hit the ground.

Although the sun was lovely Ringshall did not enjoy the heat that other parts of the county had. There was a persistent cold wind, mainly from the north, which meant that one needed winter woollies as well as sunglasses. 27ºC is the record air temperature for the month, which was in 1949 in Mildenhall. However, that was only one day in an April that otherwise was not as good as 2007.

Although there were no April showers my garden was full of May flowers. Was it too soon to believe that summer had arrived?

May

In the seventeenth century much news was spread by popular songs. These were known as Broadside Ballads. One song, entitled ‘Storm of Hail’, reports a hail storm in London on the 18th of May 1680. The hailstones killed many birds and hurt a lot of people.

“Hail stones as big as eggs, a-pace down fell, And some much bigger as I hear some tell.”

Two of the larger ones weighed in at 14ozs. Of one poor soul who was struck the song continues . . .

“His hat was burnt, the hair scorched off his breast. With limbs struck lame, full sad to be express’d”.

Well, May 2007 did have unpleasant surprises but, thankfully, nothing quite that drastic.

Temperatures, despite some chilly dips were above average. The daytime average was a comfortable 17.2ºC and at night it was 8.3ºC - both higher than the normal average, creating a new record for May.

If temperatures broke records, then rainfall smashed them. We had hailstones (but not as bad as those of 1680). Rain poured down seemingly without end. The bank holiday lived up to our worst fears and many events were completely washed out. 60mm fell in Ringshall in a 24 hour period and this was not the wettest place. There was 134mm over 16 days. Last year we had 120mm over 19 days. The only other May when rainfall exceeded 100mm was in 2000 when I recorded 101mm. My records show that May is becoming wetter!

Although there were five calm days in the month it will be remembered for some strong winds which reached gale force in parts of the county. The wind swung between north-east and north-west for most of the month but there were also some very strong winds from the south.

At the very end of the month the weather began to settle and I wondered if summer could be coming after all.