There is a saying that runs. ‘Moon and Weather may change
together, but a change of moon will not change the weather.’
However, it seems to me that lately the ‘weather’ seems to
have become more calendar conscious with a new month ushering in a
different weather pattern. Certainly, the often remarkably mild weather
which characterised the Autumn months gave way to Winter with the
arrival of December. Northerly winds ushered in the first sub 10C maxima
in the opening four days and set the scene for a drier pattern too.
However, after a particularly chilly day -4th–with a high of just 6C,
the weather alternated between milder, damp periods, still days, sunny
days, five lightish frosts during the first half of the month. Pretty
average December conditions. After mid month, there was a more notable
mild spell, with a high of 15C on 18th after a night minimum of 11.5C. A
fine Christmas Day introduced a colder final few days and the coldest
nights of 2014 on 29th (-5.7C) & 30th (-5.1C). My average temperature of
6.7C was a little above the normal for December.
Three relatively wet days, with totals between 8 and 10mm,
the highest being 9.9mm on 11th, made up over half the total of 47.6mm
with recordable falls on 17 days. This figure is about half of what
might normally be expected in December. This figure is in marked
contrast to the previous two December totals, and was the driest since
the icy December of 2010.
