UK rain since the 1910

Would have been amazing to be a MTBer in the 1960/1970. There really was a lot less rain.

I thought 2010 was a good year but was pretty average for the 70’s.

Guess this is what people are remembering when they say the weather was great in the 70’s. Might have been a bit colder but must of been much much more sun !

To be honest thats probably the perfect condition in my mind dont mind if its not too hot its just the rain I hate !

They say 2000 was 6mm more rain for that year than 2012.Find that hard to believe.I use to do MotoX in the eighties had few muddy meetings but the biggest problem in the summer was the dust.Had to keep watering the track to keep the dust down.How things have changed. 😥

2012 was the worst I can remember – I did move to Manchester though so maybe it’s always like that.

Really when you look though the driest year in the 70s is 400mm a year less than this year. Now maybe they had less in the summer or less average through the year but it’s not dramatically less if you consider it’s over a year.

Not sure where you guys are based but whilst the UK average missed the record by 6mm, as I understand it average rainfall in England broke the record by some margin. Scotland and N.Ireland were nearer their personal averages and held us back…

That seems to be a rather daft way of displaying the statistics. A graph would have been easier to read. And, IMO, 100 years isn’t enough data to get a decent trend going. 10,000 years might be useful. Remember, it’s not that long ago the Thames used to freeze regularly, and just over 1000 years ago England had a far warmer climate than we had now, and 1500 years ago there was a cool, wet period…..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_changes_of_535–536

Imagine that happening now. Maybe no planes flying for 3 years for a start, if it was a volcano…… Just a thought……

Once we’ve burnt all the fossil fuels in a few years, it’ll start righting itself. 🙂

http://www.research-in-germany.de/103228/2012-07-10-climate-in-northern-europe-reconstructed-for-the-past-2-000-years-cooling-trend-calculated-precisely-for-the-first-time.html

Hmm there’s been a more recent on as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

Statistics only prove what has happened, not what is going to happen. If you remember this, you’ll always have hope that this year will be as dry as a bone.

Very true Joat. I’d never thought of it like that to be fair. 🙂

And, IMO, 100 years isn’t enough data to get a decent trend going. 10,000 years might be useful.

A common phrase used in weather news is ‘since records began’ to encourage you to think since biblical times, or since the dinosaurs. Although people have been observing and trying to predict the weather since forever, its only been a fairly modern phenomenon to keep and maintain any sort of comprehensive weather records. So phrases like ‘the wettest/driest/coldest/hottest year since records began’ would be better stated as ‘the wettest/driest/coldest/hottest year in recent history’ or even ‘the wettest/driest/coldest/hottest year that granddad can remember’

A common phrase used in weather news is ‘since records began’

Which I believe was 1910, so 103 years. Not long, really.

The stats don’t really seem to reflect the ground conditions round here 🙁 The ground’s saturated & a lot of the local trails are under standing water. During the “summer” it was the same. Normally dry dusty trails were muddy.

It sucks 🙁

as I understand it average rainfall in England broke the record by some margin. Scotland and N.Ireland were nearer their personal averages and held us back…

somewhere, there was a graphic from earlier in the year. Parts of Scotland were virtually a drought. Less (possibly significantly less) than half the typical rainfall (although the total for the year may well be closer to average).

A common phrase used in weather news is ‘since records began’ to encourage you to think since biblical times, or since the dinosaurs.

Only if you’re an imbecile.

You think the weather forecasters WANT you to think that records go back a really long time? Wtf?

And why are people posting up links to other unusual historical weather patterns?

Hmm…

Not sure how useful that information is other than as a headline.

Big variations across the country in terms of rainfall, 1300mm is a pretty dry (EDIT well very close to average) year in Glasgow for instance. How are they working out the average?

Is it newsworthy because southern England in particular was wet?