UKC

I’ve just checked out the total rainfall for December here between Kendal and Milnthorpe.

275mm! That must be about a quarter of our normal annual total.

I’m interested to to know how this compares with the amounts recorded in Central Lakes locations such as Keswick, Grasmere, Ambleside. Does anyone in those areas keep rainfall records?

This may be helpful:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-climate-aver...

E2A: sadly on further investigation however it appears these are historic averages rather than current weather station data

Thanks for the link. As you say, not exactly what I sought, but still interesting. Surprisingly, no data for Kendal. Nearest station to me is Morecambe, which I imagine would have very similar stats to my spot.

Not surprised to find Ambleside has almost exactly twice the annual rainfall we get, and that the figure I quoted above for this December is about normal for December in Ambleside. Interesting too that Keswick is considerably drier than Ambleside.

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/IBARRO18/graph/2023-12-1/2023-12... 

Not sure if this is helpful....lots of different data sets.

The met office “actual and anomaly” maps might be useful - December 2023 should be out any day now…  I’m waiting the annual anomaly maps for 2023 as it really feels like the year the regulator fell off…

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-actual-and-a...

I expect it will be close to, if not the wettest on record for up here in Aberdeenshire. We just seem to have had persistent SE'lies for what feels like forever. 

Medium range forecasts finally have high pressure building. I've almost forgotten what one of those is!

Same here in Cornwall. It's been as long a vile period of weather as any I recall over the past decade. Sunshine and cold clear skies incoming though...

Anecdotally, here just outside Newark, it has been wetter than an otters for yonks and is about to pour it down again. 

I suspect its been a record period of wet but not sure where I get can the info from.

I seem to recall the climate scientists telling us that we should expect an increase in droughts and an increase in drownings i.e. our typical changeable weather would give way to something characterised by longer (eg month long) spells of one type of weather or another. The last year of weather seems to lend credence to this notion.

Looks like I was wrong - it’s more like a third of our annual average

600mm average annual rainfall for Kendal doesn't seem enough for a fairly wet part of the country. Indeed, taking Shap as a Met office proxy for Kendal it averages >1800mm. Average December 245mm. 

Lots of dry weather coming up......all is forgiven : )

To support Rog Wilko's hypothesis of droughts and drownings I refer the thread back to the 'Drought again' thread from last May - https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/off_belay/drought_again-760162

I wonder if we will find ourselves revisiting that theme come early summer? 

As an aside this morning I saw water being pushed up out of a main hole cover as the drainage system struggled to cope, it was spurting up to about a foot high in a nice ring!  The impromptu fountain would have been quite pretty were it not for the melting bog roll content.

Not quite sure what you’re saying here. 3 times 275 is 825, not 600. Next, where I live is about a mile north of Milnthorpe, which as locals know is considerably drier place than Kendal. Our location is  geographically on Morecambe Bay rather than the South Lakes Uplands. 1000mm annually is typical of Bay locations. Perhaps “nearer a third” was an exaggeration, but more than a quarter. 
Your suggestion that Shap is a proxy for Kendal is ludicrous, I would say.

Yes, that was rather my point! We’ve had a month or more of cyclonic weather; now are we going to have a month of anticyclonic conditions? If so, just in time for the raising of the energy cap. At least the last month has helped to keep people’s heating bills down.

Thanks for the link. Looks like somewhere near twice the long term average in my area.