1600CE-1849: Weather History (more UK than Ireland)
From The Booty Website, compiled by MG Rowley (please note this is an evolving history and so the tables below will likely be more up to date on MG Rowley’s website) – published with kind permission -
This site attempts to collect together in one place the most notable events in our ‘weather history’ across the British Isles. It has been built up in a rather ‘ad-hoc’ fashion, initially just for the latter third of the 20th century, then worked backwards as and when I stumbled across data etc., and of course kept up to date as far as possible. I am aware that these data are heavily biased towards ‘UK’ events: I would like to add more for Ireland, so if you spot any significant missing events, please advise me.
I have tried to capture the “notable events”, but I am always open to suggestions! Inevitably, there is some element of subjectivity over what constitutes a ‘significant’ event. Also, the further back in time we go, the scrappier the information & the greater the probability of missing something.
Much of the information contained in these records must of necessity be ‘tentative’ to say the least! Up to about 1000 years ago, we only have archaelogical evidence to reconstruct the record: some Roman chroniclers provide cursory evidence for the Romano-Celtic / British era, but it is not until roughly from AD 800 that documentary records make a major contribution – and of course, the era of instrumental record doesn’t really start until the 17th century, and even then, inconsistencies / errors in the instrumentation make the early record questionable. Prior to the age of scientific enquiry, the climatological data have been reconstructed using ‘proxy’ data, such as tree ring records (dendroclimatology), ice-core sampling, estate records, tales of war and the administration of great kings, monastic lists etc.
Temperature(T) = H/C (warm/cold events); Rainfall (R) = D/W (dry/wet events); Stormy events = S
| 1650-1699 | |||||
| 1651-1654 | H | D | Four successive fine (i.e. often dry / hot) summers. (London / South?) | 8 | |
| 1655/1656 (Winter) |
C | A cold winter in western Europe / implied for parts of Britain. (Easton, in CHMW/Lamb). December 10th (C?) – Scotland – blizzard – snow – wind & sea-flood, Fife. Houses fell, ships lost. |
1, LWH |
||
| 1657 (Summer) |
H | Some notably HOT & HUMID weather over England – noted as beginning from last third of June (C?), but no other details. | LWH | ||
| December 1657 to March 1658 | C | 11th December 1657: Beginning of one of the longest periods of snow lying in England, lasting (reputedly) until 21st March 1658. A notably severe winter over western Europe & much of Britain (Easton in CHMW/Lamb). [ see also entry below re: June.] |
1, 6, 8 | ||
| 1658 (June) |
C | A cold month – likened at the time to a ‘winter’ month. | x | ||
| 3rd September 1658 (OS) |
S | A ‘wild & stormy night’, with chimneys and roofs blown down and many trees uprooted. This was the night that Oliver Cromwell (the ‘Lord Protector’ of England during the ‘Inter-regnum’) died. | 8 | ||
| 1660 (November) |
W | Significant flooding is recorded in the Thames Valley on the 11th November(OS); taken together with the entry below (re: winter warmth), this implies a markedly zonal type (or high NAOI), with the associated mean jet translated far enough south to propel cyclonic disturbances across southern Britain in quick succession. | 8 | ||
| 1660/1661 (Winter) |
H | D | A mild winter – using the (early) CET record (nearest whole degC only), the average comes out at 5degC, or roughly one-and-a-quarter C above the all-series mean. Pepys mentions in late January that there had been a general lack of cold weather, and that it was ‘dusty’ (implying a warm & dry winter), with plants well ahead for the season. | CET | |
| Early -mid winter 1661/62 |
H | W | S | A mild winter (second one in a row), and to judge by some accounts (see below), a wet one too (unlike the previous winter). Using the CET record (to nearest degC only at this early stage), the DJF mean CET was 5.7degC, or roughly 2C above the all-series average. According to Evelyn .. “there having falln so greate raine without any frost or seasonable cold …”; suggests mild, cyclonic, wet & windy regime much of the winter until at least the middle of January (1662). Reported at the time as … “like May or June”. |
(LWH), Pepys, Evelyn |
| February 1662 (17th-18th/old-style) |
S | “WINDY TUESDAY“ A major severe gale / storm affected certainly the southern ‘half’ of Britain, with damage reported from widely scattered locations: according to Pepys, it was ‘dangerous to go out of doors’, with several people killed, houses damaged / destroyed in London. Also reported are major falls of trees, e.g. “above 1000 oakes and as many beeches are blown down in the Forrest of Deane”; also, there is a report of 57 Elms being felled on an estate at Nettleton (Wiltshire) [thanks to Barbara Walker for this]: no doubt much damage was done to stands of trees around the southern UK. [ Later in the year (1662), a commission was set up to enquire into the state of English forests, as of course these were important to the sustenance of the Royal Navy.] |
Pepys, Evelyn | ||
| Winters 1662/63 to 1666/67 | C | Three of the five winters in this period were cold, with severe frosts. It is claimed that skating was introduced into England during the winter of 1662/63 and that the King (Charles II) watched this new sport on the frozen Thames. | 8 | ||
| 1663 (Summer) |
C | Cold summer across England. By the (very crude at this time) CET record, the overall anomaly was about -0.5C. | CET, LWH |
||
| 1663, August | Fog in London (in August!) .. not sure how significant this is. | 8 | |||
| 17th ( 7th old-style calendar) December 1663 |
S | A flood (driven by gales) submerged Whitehall, and was produced by a high tide that was said not to have been exceeded for more than 200 years. This storm-surge would have also damaged properties / structures elsewhere along the Thames Estuary, and perhaps coasts adjacent to the southern North Sea, though I have no references for this assumption. | 6, 8 | ||
| 1664 | Much thunder & lightning during the year. This implies frequent occurrence of cold air at middle levels, and might imply that the zone of mobility was transferred well to the south of its modern-day position. | 8 | |||
| 1664/65 (Winter) |
C | Severe frost from 28th December(OS) to 7th February(OS). 6th February(OS) reputed to be one of the coldest days ever in England (!?) | 8 | ||
| 1665 (mid/late winter to spring) |
C | D | cold / dry winter & a dry spring. Thought to be a factor in the outbreak of the ‘Great Plague’ later that year due with ideal conditions for breeding rats. | x | |
| October 1665 | C | W | Cold weather & rain in London: death rate from plague began to fall off. | 6 | |
| 1665/1666 (November to September) |
C | D | Every month from November 1665 to September 1666 was dry. By August, 1666, the River Thames at Oxford was reduced to a ‘trickle’. This drought was a large contributory factor in the ‘Great Fire of London’ (q.v.), bearing in mind that many houses in London had a high proportion of timber in them – and presumably old timbers too. [ A rainy spell started just after the Fire ... 9th by the old calendar, and there was prolonged / heavy rain for 10 days early in October 1666. ] The dryness extended to Scotland, at least from May to mid-July. Perhaps confirming an ‘anticyclonic’ bias to the broadscale type, The River Thames was frozen over in London by mid-December 1665. |
1, 8 | |
| November 1665 | S | 7th: Deep depression probably brought the lowest barometric pressure ever measured in London (about 931 mbar .. probably still a record as at 2005). 30th: Climax to a month of wind & rain, the roads very bad. English ships trapped by ice in port at Hamburg (Pepys): obviously an anticyclonic spell had allowed near-continental temperatures to fall significantly – see below as the severe cold impacted on these islands. |
6 | ||
| December 1665 - January 1666 |
C | H | 2nd December: Severe frost in London 2nd to 7th. 21st December: Severe frost set in again, the Thames blocked by ice in London by 30th. The plague much reduced, but flared up again in the mild weather after 6th to 10th January 1666. A mild January followed. |
6 | |
| February 1666 | S | On 3rd(OSP): according to Pepys: “a most furious storm”, with houses blown down in London. | 6 | ||
| Summer 1666 | H | D | 27th June(OS): heat wave began: mostly dry in London since the 12th(OS). On 5th July, 1666(OS), Pepys writes: “extremely hot … oranges ripening in the open at Hackney”. July 6th(OS): Beginning of period with occasional showers/heavy rains though often warm. July 26th(OS): Hail ‘ as big as walnuts ‘ in London and 27th(OS) on Suffolk coast. The climatological summer (June, July & August) of 1666 was amongst the top 10 or so of warm summers in the CET series (began 1659). |
6, CET, Pepys |
|
| August & September 1666 |
H | D | W | The drought over these two months is noteworthy because it preceded the Great Fire of London; apparently the east wind, which prevailed during that period, had dried the wooden houses of London until they were like tinder. When the fire started early in September (12th/New Style), the east wind drove the flames before it and helped the fire to spread rapidly; smoke from this reached Oxford in the days thereafter. The prevailing weather was noted as ‘hot & dry’, and strong east Winds during the fire caused great problems with fire-fighting. On the 2nd/old-style (the first day of the fire), a ‘strong’ east wind is noted – Evelyn notes this as a “Fierce” eastern wind in a very dry season. It is not clear though whether the wind was caused by the fire, or was there anyway. However, Evelyn does note that there had been a….”long set of fair and warm weather”. On September 4th (14th new-style), Evelyn still notes: “The eastern wind still more impetuously driving the flames forward. “Later on the 5th(OS), the wind is noted as ‘abating’ — again not certain whether this was due to the fire burning itself out. In any case, this was effectively the end of the Great Fire. 15th September(OS): Foul weather in the southern North Sea began the breakdown of the long dry warm summer weather (see previous). 19th September(OS): The first considerable rainfall quenched London fire: rainy autumn followed. |
6, 8 |
| 1666/67 (winter & early spring) |
C | A cold winter over western Europe / implied parts of Britain; cold weather, hard frost in London on 31st December; Thames covered with ice on the 1st January. Using the CET series [ 'central' England ], the overall figure for the three ‘classical’ winter months of December, January & February showed an anomaly of -1.5degC on the all-series mean. December was around a degree (C) below average, but January was bitterly cold, with an approximate anomaly of at least -3degC; February was about average, but this was followed by a very cold March (q.v. below). March of 1667 was very cold: nominal CET (to nearest 0.5degC and perhaps inaccurate?) was 2degC, representing an anomaly on the ‘all-series’ mean of at least -3degC. Perhaps in the ‘top-5′ coldest March’s of the series. |
1, 8, CET | ||
| 1667 (summer) |
H | D | 11th June: Beginning of long dry spell lasting until mid-August; great heat in June & July. | 6 | |
| 1669 | H | D | Dry year, hot summer (London/South). Using the just-started CET series, the overall summer-time temperature represented an anomaly of about +1C on the all-series mean | 8,CET | |
| 1669 | C | Colder in London on 26th December than for past 5 or 6 years; freezing quickly for some days. Much colder than 1665 and 1666. | 8 | ||
| December 1671 | Evelyn described the fog this month as … “the thickest and darkest fog ever known in the memory of man”. | 8 | |||
| 1671/1672 (winter) |
C | A cold winter over western Europe / implied for parts of Britain. The anomaly on the ‘all-series’ CET figure was approx. -1.5degC. December 9th (C?) – Southern England – Freezing rain – Great tree damage. |
1, CET, LWH |
||
| 1672 (December) |
W | S | 1. Possible great storm after Christmas (old-style dating ~29th/30th December): Widespread reports of damage due to high winds from the Channel Islands as far north as Richmond in Yorkshire and Dunfermline in Scotland & eastwards to the Low Countries. [Although we can't be sure, it seems as if the widespread reports of high winds point to a vigorous, rapidly deepening depression crossing northern Britain, with a tightening gradient on it's rearward flank.] 2. There are reports of a ‘great flood’ in Worcester, on the River Severn, on the 23rd December, which taken with 1. above, implies that December 1672 was very unsettled & almost certainly MILD (though not notably so using the Manley CET series). |
(Widespread ecclesiastical records ex. Internet). CET |
|
| 1673/74 (winter) |
C | A ‘mixed’ but extended winter: bitterly cold in December, with a CET anomaly around -3degC, followed by a mild January (+2degC), then a cold or very cold February (-2degC). [ This was followed by a very cold March - see below.] | CET | ||
| March 1674 |
C | D | 13-day snowfall / blizzard – “The thirteen drifty days” in the Scottish Borders began about 5th to 8th March (new style). Most of the sheep perished. From Norwich cathedral records (listed as 1673 some records, but I think this is the ecclesiastical year), a great snow (East Anglia / Norwich) from February 24th, which lay on the ground until Easter (end March) when it suddenly thawed. (Norwich/Cathedral records) In the CET series, the coldest March, (since 1659), with value 1degC (poor accuracy for the record so early on, but obviously very extreme). This represents an anomaly (on the ‘whole-series’ mean) of something like -4degC; |
6, CET | |
| 1674 (Summer) |
C | The estimated value of CET for this season was 13.7degC. At this point, only values to the nearest whole degree C are available, but there is little doubt that this summer was one of the coldest such seasons across England & Wales in the CET series (began 1659). [Interesting to note that it comes only 2 years after, and 2 years before, notably warm summers!] | CET | ||
| 1675 (Summer) |
C | W | Wet, cool summer. For the second time, a notably cold summer using the CET record: the value was estimated to have been 13.7degC, the same as in 1674. | CET, 8 | |
| 1676 (Spring & Summer) |
C | H | D | 1. Spring 1676 was on the chilly side, with the CET averaged over the three months of March, April & May just below average. (Note that the previous two Springs had been much colder); it was also dry, probably excessively so for many across large areas of England, as there are parish records (e.g. from Wintringham, Yorkshire & Westonzoyland, Somerset) which make note of extended dry conditions; indeed, the drought extended through the summer, and there are notes in local records from the Somerset levels for example, that sluices had to be set so as to admit water to farmland (rather than the more common need of keeping sea water out). 2. With a CET value of 16.8degC, this was one of the 20 or so warmest summers across England & Wales in that series (began 1659). In particular, June 1676, with a value of 18.0degC was the second warmest such-named month in that series (as at 2005). Note that this Summer followed two notably cold summers: see above. There was ‘exceptional’ heat 19th June to 1st July 1676. 3. Taken together, the cold spring, warm / hot summer & extended drought suggests frequent anticyclonic episodes, with a bias for the highs to be centred to the north or NW, favouring easterly or northerly winds. |
6, CET |
| 1676/1677 (Winter) |
C | A cold winter western Europe / implied for parts of Britain. (Easton, in CHMW/Lamb); Thames frozen; huts to sell brandy built on the river. | 1, 8 | ||
| Christmas 1680 to June 1681 |
C | D | According to Evelyn … hardly any rain. …. ” there still continues such a drought as has hardly ever been known in England”. However, there is some doubt surrounding this, as the price of wheat was not unduly high. In Scotland, end of 4 months spell of dry, easterly winds. The winter 1680/81 noted as ‘severe’. |
6, 8, Evelyn |
|
| 1682 | W | Thames flood. (month & type not known, i.e. whether land-water after high rains, or storm-surge type.) | 8 | ||
| 1682 (May) |
W | A severe thunderstorm at Oxford 31st May (old-style calendar). Nearly ’2 feet’ of ‘rain fell’ into a 4 foot diameter container. Almost certainly accompanied by a tornado and there is much speculation about how much of the rain was due to a collapsing very strong updraught or tornado vortex. | x | ||
| 1682 (October) |
C | Drifting snow around the end of the month reported from Fife in Scotland; depths of 12 to 20 feet were recorded (~4 to ~8m). [ This dating needs confirmation - it may be October 1683. ] | x | ||
| 1683/84 (winter) |
C | One of the four or five coldest winters over the British Isles (& large parts of Europe), and the coldest in the CET record. (LW/Manley -’Weather’, but note that the CET record to the nearest 0.5degC at this time). The 15th December 1683 saw the onset of a great frost in England & central Europe: Thames frozen down to London Bridge by 2nd January 1684, with booths on the ice by 27th January and for more than a fortnight thereafter – coaches were observed on the ice and the royal court (King Charles II) visited the fair held on the frozen Thames. Many birds perished. This great frost was claimed to be the longest on record; the Thames in London was completely frozen for about two months and the ice was reported to be 11 inches (circa 28 cm) thick. Sea ice was reported along the coasts of SE England and many harbours could not be used due to ice: according to some sources, ice formed for a time between Dover & Calais, with the two sides ‘ joined together ‘! Severe problems for shipping accessing such ports on either side of the North Sea. Near Manchester, the ground was frozen to a depth of 27 inches and in Somerset to more than 4 feet. The winter was ‘incredibly severe’ according to John Evelyn and a Frost Fair was held on the ice. “No vessels could stir out or come in while a thick fog occurred towards the end of January which made it difficult to see across the streets”. (This latter due to warm advection no doubt, as a thaw set in over snow/ice covered surfaces). HH Lamb has constructed a tentative mean seasonal pressure pattern with High pressure in the Faeroes area, an arctic northerly from Spitzbergen to the Baltic, thence an anticyclonic east or northeasterly over NW Europe / British Isles. See also 1739/40; 1813/14 and 1962/63. (Technically, this winter was the coldest in the CET series, but series here is noted to the nearest 0.5degC only). Using the CET series, both January (-3.0) & February (-1.0) has sub-zero mean temperatures, only one of four instances of successive ‘sub-zero’ months in that series (see also 1740, 1878/79 & 1963). This was the winter that was described so vividly by R.D. Blackmore in his novel: “Lorna Doone“. First half of February: based on reconstructed records: CET averaged (minus) 6.6 degC: the coldest 15 day period of the entire 336 year record (up to 1995, and almost certainly beyond that). On 18th Feb. 1684, rain / thaw after 8 weeks with Thames frozen: ships could reach Port of London by 20th/22nd. |
1, 8, CET, LWH |
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| 1684 (Spring & Summer) |
H | D | Drought: dry & hot spring & summer (London/South). | 8 | |
| 1684 (December) |
C | December 23rd (C?) – southern England – blizzard – many froze to death. | LWH | ||
| 1685 (late Winter & Spring) |
D | Drought: no rain for many months before June (London/South). | 8 | ||
| 1685/86 winter | H | One of the warmest winters (by CET) in the series which began in 1659. Up to 1997, rank=5 Value=6.33; Dec=6.5, Jan=6.5, Feb=6.0 (Others: 1734, 1796, 1834, 1869, 1935, 1975, 1989 and 1990.) | CET | ||
| 1686 | H | D | Hot, dry summer (London/South). | 8 | |
| 1687 – 1695 | C | A spell of often cool summers; the summers of 1694 & 1695 were particularly cold. Both of these latter years (overall) were cold. | 8, CET |
||
| 1687 (May) |
S | On May 12th a hurricane(!) occurred in London. (no more details on this .. treat with caution). | x | ||
| December 1687 | W | 5th December: boats plying in the streets of Dublin after heavy rains 4th/5th. | 6 | ||
| 1688 (October / November) |
S | William of Orange (married to Mary, daughter of British king, James II) was ‘invited’ to take over the throne. He set sail from Holland on October 19th to cross the North Sea. Autumn storms forced the fleet to return to Holland when only half-way across the North Sea (not unusual in this era of sail). On November 1st, the fleet sailed again, intending to land in Yorkshire, but the east or northeast wind was described as a ‘gale’: this favoured the Dutch fleet, but prevented the English Royal Navy from leaving the Thames Estuary (3rd). The Dutch fleet sailed for Torbay – couldn’t land (due to ‘haze’ – perhaps thick mist/fog), but on 5th, air-mass change, visibility picked up and ‘southerly’ blew the fleet back to Torbay (from near Plymouth). | x | ||
| 1688/89 (Winter / January) |
C | From late December 1688 to early February 1689, extended period(s) of bitterly cold weather across England. Noted as a ‘Severe winter’ (though the overall winter CET not impressive). However, January 1689 was notably cold, with an estimated anomaly (on the whole-series) of at least -2.5C. A frost fair was held on the Thames, which implies persistent sub-zero temperatures & often strong east winds to allow the ice to form to sufficient thickness / stability. | 8, CET, LWH |
||
| 1690 – 99 | C | 6 out of 10 of these winters defined as ‘severe’ in the CET series. That is, CET mean temperature value for the months December, January and February, below 3.0 degC. Although that series applies strictly to a closely-defined area of central & southern England, it is clear from accounts of the time that ‘harsh’ weather occurred elsewhere within this period: for example, in NE Scotland, much outward migration of farming folk occurred after a series of bad harvests – with tales of mills falling into disuse. > The mean value of the CET for these 10 years is around 8.1degC (low-resolution to the series at this time), which is at least 2C below the modern-day average value & is the coldest decade in that series. There were four years with a mean CET below 8degC: 1692(7.7), 1694(7.7), 1695(7.3) & 1698(7.6). These years are respectively the 6th, 5th, 2nd & 4th coldest years in the entire series. |
CET | ||
| 1690/91 (winter / early spring) |
C | In Fife, many areas were ‘knee-deep’ in snow from January until the beginning of April; there was ‘great distress’ by reason of sickness. | x | ||
| 1691 | H | D | Dry year. Hot / dry during late summer & autumn – dry winter. (London/South). | 8 | |
| 1692 | C | A cold year (London/South). | 8 | ||
| Feb. 1692 | C | Freezing NE gale and heavy snow in Highlands ended mild, fair weather and brought renewed severe/wintry weather, as had held sway Dec 1691-Jan 1692, thereby providing cover for escapes from the Massacre of Glencoe. | 6, 8 | ||
| May 1692 | H | Warm thundery spell set in on the 30th May, 1692 & lasted about 3 weeks. | 6 | ||
| 1692 (Summer) |
C | W | S | The summer of 1692 was exceedingly wet and rather cold & was stated to be the worst summer since 1648. June 19th: wind and rain stripped trees of their leaves, climax of 3-day rainfall around London. Continual rain / floods went on through July & August. |
6, 8 |
| 1692 (late Summer / early Autumn) |
H | August 26th: Beginning of fair warm weather which lasted until 14th September after the summer rains. | 6, 8 | ||
| September 1692 | C | D | S | 25th: NE gale introduced long spell of stormy NE-NW winds, mostly dry but very cold day and night: frosts around London from 9th October prevented fruit ripening. | 6 |
| 1694 | C | 1694 was a cold year (London/South): the CET value for 1694 was ~ 7.7degC [ crude data at this date ], which is some 1.5C below the long-period average & would place it in the ‘top 5 or 6′ coldest years in that series; a notably cold summer using the CET record. | 6, 8, CET | ||
| November, 1694 | S | November 2nd(OS): Notable storm. Villages in NE Scotland (near the Moray coast) buried in sand due to a prolonged northerly or northwesterly gale. | 1, LWH |
||
| 1694/95 (winter & spring) |
C | Long & severe frosts during the winter of 1694/95. A severe winter. December 1694 – frost / snow started in London on 25th(OSP). At Oxford, frost began around 28th(NS) January 1695 – Fairly general ‘severe’ conditions. Thames frozen on 23rd(OSP) and by the 30th(OSP), frost / continual snow had last for 5 weeks in London. February 1695 – Deep snow after heavy falls 8th/9th(OSP). More snow end of month London area. March 1695 – further ‘significant’ snowfall. April 1695 – severe frost / heavy snow continuing well into the latter part of the month. The third-coldest spring (March/April/May) in the CET record: with a value averaged over those three months of 6.0degC, the anomaly was approx. -2C below the all-series mean. (see also 1770 & 1837) |
6, 8, CET, LWH |
||
| 1695 | C | This is thought to be, for the British Isles as a whole, one of the coldest years ‘ever known’ (though sources don’t make it clear if this is within the ‘instrumental’ era, or a much longer historical time-span. By the CET record (covering ‘Midland’ & parts of SE England), it is technically the second-coldest in that series (began 1659), with a value of 7.25degC. Only 1740 was colder. However, the series at this point is in its early phase with data given to the nearest 0.5degC only and based on few observations. | 6, 8, CET | ||
| August – October 1695 |
C | S | August 1695: 21st – N wind and night frost at the end of a cold summer with continual rain and westerly gales. ‘Greater frosts were not always seen in winter’ (John Evelyn at Wotton, Surrey). With a CET value (based on crude data at this point in the series) of 13.2degC, it was a notably cold summer – one of the ‘top-5′ cold summers using that series. (This summer was one of the first of a sequence of disastrous harvests in Scotland, where famine ensued). August 27th: Renewed rain / gales (winds mostly between NW & E) set in, and lasted until 12th October. |
6, CET | |
| December 1695 to February 1696 |
C | An interval of snow / frost in the London area after mild, dark misty weather and before a long wet spell which lasted until February 1696. Intense frost (London/South?) on 26th January, temperature 9 degrees (?F) below zero in London. (in degC this would be: -23degC.) | 6, 8 | ||
| Summer, 1696 | W | S | Westerly winds and frequent rains / gales set in on the 4th July, after warm, thundery June, and lasted until 15th August. | 6, 8 | |
| August & September 1696 |
18th August: End of rains in the South, where W winds brought mostly fair weather over the next month; dearth of food becoming serious in Scotland. | 6 | |||
| 1696 (September) |
C | S | 18th September: stormy wet weather returns | 6 | |
| November 1696 |
C | 13th: Mostly fair weather, but with severe frosts near London, set in 13th to 20th after frequent stormy winds and rain since 18th September (q.v.). | 6 | ||
| December 1696 to February 1697 |
C | 1696/97 A severe winter. 11th December: East wind brought in spell of snowy weather lasting until February 1697. West wind 27th to 29th December brought more snow but did not break the long frost near London. 8th January: NE gale renewed the frost ( after brief intermission with rain and drizzle in the London area 6th to 8th ). February 1697 was a severe month in a severe winter in a decade of severe winters. CET=+ 0.5degC (at this point, the series is the nearest half-a-degree C only). [c.f. with the 1961-90 mean of 3.8degC.] Not a ‘record-breaker’, but certainly colder than we have become used to. |
6, 8, CET | ||
| 1697 & 1699 | H | D | Appear to have been dry years. The total in the Upminster record for 1697 was 15.6 ins / 396 mm. Particularly dry (& warm) in the London area in 1699. | 8 | |
| May 1697 |
May 14th or 15th (NSP) 1697, a damaging hailstorm affected parts of Hertfordshire, observed to run from Hitchin to Great Offley (Hertfordshire), though the track may in fact have been longer: this would imply a movement from ENE to WSW. Several people killed. The size (diameter) of the hail from contemporary reports must have been in excess of 6 cm, and probably up to 8 or 9 cm. [ see also 1808: July & the TORRO web-site. ] | TORRO, LWH |
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| June 1697 | W | Severe flood caused by lake burst in bog near Charleville, Co. Cork, the spring having been uncommonly wet in England and Ireland with frequent rain/hail. | 6 | ||
| 1697 (Autumn) |
C | A very cold season. Frosts sharp/severe in November, with rivers in Netherlands were blocked unseasonably early (even for those cold times). Fall of snow in the London area on the 24th November. Remaining cold/sleet/snow to the end of the month. | x | ||
| January 1698 |
W | D | Before the cold / snow got going in earnest (see below), a wet / stormy period on the 3rd/4th January 1698. (Not unusual – see for example, 1947). | x | |
| Winter 1697/1698 & year 1698 |
C | A severe winter (1697/98). Using the monthly mean values of CET, all three winter months (Dec, Jan & Feb) can be classified as ‘very cold’; that is December 2.5degC; January 0.0degC and February 0.5degC, giving a seasonal mean of 1.0degC (NB: series only to nearest half degree C at this point in the record). When compared with the 1961-90 long period average, this represents an anomaly of -3.1 degC. In general, frosty weather with heavy snow and frozen rivers occurred during much of this January (of 1698) in south-east England (and perhaps elsewhere – record not available). From the 10th January 1698, snow with deep drifts reported across the southeast of Britain. [ This would imply that British Isles weather was dominated by a blocking high extending westwards over the country from Russia (using mean monthly reconstructed mslp maps).] Frost, hail & snow persisted from January to May in this year (1698). 1698 reputed to have been the coldest year between 1695 & 1742. First week of February. 1698: ice 8 inches (circa 20cm) thick on the sea coast of Suffolk. There was deep snow all over England on the 3rd May (after snowfall up to 6 inches/15cm in Yorkshire on the 1st – and a keen frost) and the spring of 1698 was the most backward for 47 years; further snowfall 13th May in London and Yorkshire, with corn/fruit crops damaged. More snow 19th in Shropshire – described as ‘deep’; Before the cold/snow got going, a wet / stormy period on the 3rd/4th January 1698. [see also notes re: February & March below] |
6, 8 | ||
| 1698 (February & March) |
C | The severe conditions that occurred at the end of the January (see above), continued into February, but a rapid thaw set in on the 3rd which lasted until the 14th. On the 24th February, with a return to wintry weather, a great snowstorm occurred with strong northerly winds: roads became blocked with drifts to 3m or more. [No further details as yet]. After a temporary thaw at the end of February, 1698, March turned out to be another ‘winter’ month: A cold easterly flow became re-established in early March, with freezing conditions, and by the 8th, rivers in south-eastern England were again frozen with ice 10cm or so thick. This cold spell, one of many that winter, lasted until the latter part of the month. On the 21st March though, milder southwesterly winds set in. | x | ||
| 1698 (May/spring) |
C | May, 1698 was the coldest May in the CET series (also for large parts of west/central Europe). The mean temperature for the month was 8.5 degC, almost 3 degC below the 1961-90 mean, and barely above the normal for April. The spring of 1698 followed a severe winter, and even in the ‘Little Ice Age’ was reputed to be the most backward for almost 50 years. Contemporary accounts spoke of frequent heavy frosts, snow and hail throughout the spring, with a “great deep snow all over England” on 13th May(NS). [ Some sources have this as the 3rd May(OSP) ] |
CET, 8 | ||
| 1698 (Summer & Annual) |
C | W | The summer of 1698 was notably cold using the CET series. It may have also been wet (but no data on that), as the remark below implies that the growing crops were held back – usually a sign of a combination of cold and wet. Added to the events listed above (q.v.), 1698 turned out to be another cold year (within Lamb’s ‘Little Ice Age’), with the CET value placing it within the ‘top-5′ of coldest years in that dataset (began 1659). |
CET | |
| August 1698 |
D | W | 20th: Beginning of a short period of fine weather which saved some of the harvest in Yorkshire: later a long wet autumn ruined most of the crops, which sprouted before harvest. | 6 | |
| 1699 (Annual & Summer) |
H | D | With 1697 (q.v.), a dry year: a notably dry summer – the first of several hot summers after nine successive cold summers. | 8 |
| 1800 – 1849 | |||||
| 1800-1839 (40 years) |
W | These first 40 years of the 19th century often contained references to excessive rainfall, floods etc. Using the EWP series, the following years had precipitation %ages of roughly=/> 110% . . . 1816, 1821, 1824, 1828, 1830, 1831 & 1839. In particular, 1828 & 1839 (~120%) stand out, though even these don’t appear in the ‘top-10′ of wettest years in that series. There is evidence from London-area data that (as might be expected) there were notable regional variations. For example, from the Greenwich series (LW), the wettest years in these four decades did NOT coincide with the EWP set; for London, it appears that 1821 (~140%) and 1824 (~150%) captured the most rainfall, and two years (1817 & 1819), although not ‘notable’ in the England/Wales-wide series, were wet in the London/SE area. However, as always with such sweeping statements, there were notable exceptions! The following years and / or seasons are noted as being ‘dry’ during these first 40 years of the 19th century: >1800 – A dry summer. >1802 – A dry year. >1807 – A dry year & a dry summer. >1818 – A long, dry & hot summer. (see below) >1825 – A dry summer. A notable hot spell in July. >1826 – A warm summer. (see below) >1827 – A dry summer. >1835 – A dry summer. >1840 – A dry year; a dry summer. |
EWP, 8 |
||
| First 40 yr. of 19th C. | C | W | Often wet in London, with 8 years wet (1816, 1817, 1819, 1821, 1824, 1828, 1831 & 1839), with 1821 & 1824 being ‘outstandingly’ wet. 10 wet summers noted: just 3 ‘dry’ years in this period noted: 1802, 1807 & 1840. There were 7 severe winters in this period: 1813/14, 1815/16, 1819/20, 1822/23, 1829/30, 1837/38 & 1840/41. There was a great deal of ice on the Thames during most of these winters, but the ice does not seem to have been strong/thick enough for people to walk from one side to the other. 1809-1819: After a relatively benign period from 1790 (several warm summers & less cold winters), these years saw a return to often harsh winters & unsettled, cold & wet summers. The decade from 1810-1819 was the coldest in England since the 1690′s. Lamb (CHMW) ascribes this reversal to a renewal of volcanic activity. [ It is generally thought that the works of Charles Dickens take the character of the weather from this less than perfect period, e.g. the often-quoted snow / frost in such as 'A Christmas Carol' & 'The Pickwick Papers'.] |
1, 8 | |
| 1800 | D | A dry summer (London/South). | 8 | ||
| 1802 | D | A dry year (London/South). | 8 | ||
| 1805 | W | A wet summer (in London). | 8 | ||
| 1807 | D | A dry year; a dry summer (London/South). | 8 | ||
| 1807 (December) | Fog daily 17th – 21st December (London/South). | 8 | |||
| 1808 (January) |
S | Northwesterly (?) gale affects east coast of England. Serious flooding East Anglian marshes (significant breach is sea walls), with loss of farming stock and damage to ships, onshore etc. | (local) | ||
| 1808: (February) | C | S | 12th: Significant snowstorm (heavy snow / high winds) affects East Anglia / East of England fens. Dislocation to movement for “several days”. This was followed in the days after by a ‘very intense frost’. | (local) | |
| July 1808 | H | 1. Notably warm month (using the CET series since 1659). With a value of 18.4degC, it is in the ‘top-10′ of such-named months for warmth. In particular, there was a hot spell from the 12th to the 15th, with a peak around the 13th/14th, when the CET daily temperature (i.e. average of 24hr maximum & minimum) climbed to just over 24degC. Studies since that date have shown that individual day maxima were well above 25degC (possibly to 28degC) in the West of England; up to (almost certainly over) 32degC in London & possibly as high as 34degC in Kingston upon Hull (ER Yorkshire): however caution is required with all these values due to the differing instruments, exposure, accuracy of recording etc. It was undoubtedly a very hot spell though, as deaths (people & animals) from heat exhaustion were recorded, particularly from the agricultural areas in the east and north of England. One report at the time (from farm records in the eastern Fens), says that the temperature in the shade near London was 96 (degF), which converts to just over 35degC: the same reference notes that this spell is the “hottest day ever known in Eng’d … the Hot Sunday in 1790 was only 83 Deg”. [ NB: August 1808 also reasonably warm, with anomaly circa + 1degC. ] 2. 13th: ‘Hot Wednesday’: shade temperatures 33 to 35degC in E. and SE England, 37degC (99degF) reported in Suffolk (exposure & instrument details unknown . . see 1. above). 3. Damaging hailstorm affected counties in SW England afternoon / evening of the 15th (presumably as the hot spell above was breaking down), primarily affecting Dorset, Somerset & Gloucestershire. The storm first hit areas in the Sherborne / Templecombe area late afternoon then moved (or developed) NNW’wards to reach Bristol mid-evening. From reports at the time, the diameter of much of the hail was of the order 11 cm, with much damage being recorded – including injury & death to people in the open. If these reports are correct, then this 1808 hailstorm (according to Colin Clark / ‘Weather’ July 2004), produced the largest hail diameters for Britain known (along with that for 1697). |
6, TORRO, CET | ||
| 1808/09 (Christmas & New Year) | Fog daily 24th December to 2nd January (London/South). Further fog on 7 days later in January. | 8 | |||
| January 1809 | C | W | S | A flood occurred, which may have been tidal in the lower reaches of the Thames, carried away bridges at Eton, Deptford and Lewisham. Flooding noted at Windsor. Highest flood level (as at 2003) on the upper River Thames recorded at Shillingford Wharf (47.25m above OD). After a cold / frosty period, during which the ground became thoroughly frozen, rain fell on the 19th January, which itself froze, plus a period of snow. Then on the 24th, what is described as ‘intense’ rainfall, coupled with snowmelt produced a rapid rise in the waters of the Thames over the near-solid surface. A major flood was the result, causing much damage (which may have been aggravated by an above-average high tide in the lower reaches of the Thames), which amongst other things took away the central arch of Wallingford Bridge, part of the old Bridge at Wheatley, and damaged or destroyed bridges downstream, e.g. at Bisham, Eton & Windsor. flood damage also specifically noted at Deptford & Lewisham. Has been dubbed by some: “The Great Thames Flood”. It wasn’t a particularly wet winter, but the combination of snow/frozen ground and high-intensity rainfall was more than poor flood defence schemes (if they existed) could cope with. 26th: SW gale and a rapidly rising temperature in Scotland after a snowstorm ended a severe frost period with easterly winds which began in December 1808. |
6, 8 |
| 26th April 1809 | W | Thames in flood at various points (specifically noted at Windsor). | 8 | ||
| 1809 (October) | Fog on 11 days, with thick fog last 3 days (London/South). | 8 | |||
| January 1810 | 10 days of fog in London. | 8 | |||
| October 1810 | C | Fog on 5 days (London/South). Snow on the 30th (London??). |
8 | ||
| November 1810 | S | Easterly gale: sea floods around Boston, Lincolnshire. | 6 | ||
| Jan 1811 | C | Thames frozen over. | 8 | ||
| May, 1811 | Thunderstorms on 9 days in May in the London area. | 8 | |||
| 1811 (September) | Fog on 7 days (London/South). | 8 | |||
| March 1812 | C | S | Snow fell 1 foot (circa 30cm) deep about Edinburgh, followed by drifting in NE gale 21st to 23rd. | 6 | |
| 1812 (Spring, Summer & Autumn) |
C | W | 1. Spring & Summer 1812 were notably cold. The anomaly for both seasons on the whole-series (CET) mean was around -1.5C, with March, April, June, July & August having anomalies in excess of -1C. April 1812 was unusually cold, with a CET value of 5.5degC (-2.4C) & thus one of the ‘top-dozen’ or so cold such-named months. It was the coldest Spring since 1799, and it was not to as cold again in Spring until 1837, though in this latter year, the summer was warm. By contrast, 1812 experienced one of the coldest summers across England & Wales using the CET series (began 1659). 2. In addition to the extended cold, rainfall was often excessive. The months of February & March 1812 experienced EWP anomalies of 177% & 150% respectively, which with the cold ground, would have had a severe effect on the germination of crops sown, or about to be sown. Indeed, although April was drier than average, May, June and July were all wet (averaging ~135%), so sowing may have been impossible on heavier soils. 3. The backwardness of the crops, plus the extended wet/cold weather (with probably a lack of sunshine, though there are no contemporary records for this), meant that the harvest that year was also delayed, as well as being of a low yield. From records in Yorkshire, the harvest began around 20th September, and was not finished until the second week of November (Wintringham Parish Register). |
1, CET, EWP | |
| 1813/1814 (winter) |
C | 1. One of the four or five coldest winters in the CET record. See also 1683/84; 1739/40 and 1962/63. Particularly cold January to March: CET values, with anomalies ref. 1961-90 averages: Jan: -2.9(-6.7), Feb: 1.4(-2.4), Mar: 2.9(-2.8): We had to wait until 1962/63 for comparable, extended cold periods, in particular for the January values. The last time that the ‘tidal’ River Thames froze over sufficiently to hold ‘frost fairs’ etc. The activities surrounding the fair lasted well into February, but around 5th/6th February, a thaw set in and the ice started to break up, helped by rain: some people were drowned and many booths were destroyed. The loose ice did much damage to shipping of all sizes on the river. (After this time, the removal of the old London Bridge in 1831, plus other work enabled the Thames to increase it’s flow, and freezing of the tidal stretches has not occurred since.) Most commentators say this was the ‘last great frost fair’ held on the Thames. The greatest frost of the 19th century commenced on the 27th December 1813; the onset of the frost was accompanied by thick fog. 2. Probably one of the snowiest winters in these islands in the last 300 years (1947 comparable). Much disruption in January in particular due to the snow. Reports from Perth (Scotland) spoke of low temperatures in the first week of January: by the end of the week, snow was falling in Aberdeenshire and a few days later reports from Kelso (Borders) spoke of heavy snow blocking roads to Edinburgh. By Monday, 17th January, the storm had become so severe that the newspapers opined that this storm was the worst since 1795. In Dublin, the snowfall was so severe that people were trapped inside their houses, and it is reported that Canterbury (Kent) was cut off for at least six days. Heavy snow fell during the period 3rd to 5th January, 1814 and this was followed by a temporary thaw which only lasted one day; the frost then returned (often severe over snow cover) and persisted until the 5th February. The Thames was frozen solid from 31st January to 5th February and a frost fair was held on the river; a thaw took place between 5th and 7th February and the drifting ice damaged shipping considerably. [Note also that other rivers had ice problems, such as the Mersey & the Severn - the Thames always gets the headlines! Mention in chronicles of skating at Bristol and horses being ridden over these rivers: no doubt others in the country were similarly affected.] In addition to the heavy frost, fog was an additional hazard, which commenced (in London) on the 26th/27th December, and only lifted on the 3rd January, 1814. On the 27th December, the fog was so dense (under 20 yards/metres) that the Prince Regent (later George IV), who was on his way to visit the Marquis of Salisbury at Hatfield House, near St. Albans, had to turn back at Kentish Town and return to Carlton House. This short journey took several hours and one of the Prince Regent’s outriders fell into a ditch at Kentish Town. The fog was still dense on the 28th December and on that night the Maidenhead coach, which was returning from London, lost its way and overturned. Dense fog continued on 29th December and the Birmingham mailcoach took nearly 7 hours to go from London to just past Uxbridge (west Middlesex). Traffic was almost at a standstill in London on the nights of 30th and 31st December; many coachmen had to lead their horses and others only drove at a walking pace. Only pedestrians who knew the locality well dared venture forth, and even some of them lost their way. The fog was finally cleared by a cold northerly wind, accompanied by heavy snow, which set in on the 3rd January 1814 (though Lamb in ref. 6 says this occurred 5th/6th). |
6, 8 | ||
| 1814 & 1816 | C | These years were as cold, if not colder than, 1695. The ‘Frost Fair’ in February of 1814 is thought to be the last held on the Thames in London (1st to 4th). The summer of 1814 was cold: This year, together with that of 1816 (q.v.), were two of the coldest years in the CET record (began 1659). The value for 1814 was 7.7degC, which places it within the ‘top-10′ of all-series cold years. 1816 is famously known as ‘the year without a summer’: in this latter year, heavy snow fell all day on the 14th April, and snow fell on the 12th May. |
8, CET |
||
| June 1815 | W | The May and June of 1815 were very unsettled, and marked by high rainfall totals across the Low Countries. In particular, the heavy rain-storms in the lead up to, and immediately prior to the Battle of Waterloo (17th/18th) across Belgium may have been a contributory factor in the defeat of the Napoleonic French forces – the French cavalry in particular finding it difficult to traverse the rain-sodden ground. | 6 | ||
| 1815/16 (winter) |
C | A severe winter (London/South). | 8 | ||
| 1816 & 1817 | W | Two wet years, with wet summers – in London. | 8 | ||
| 1816 (Spring) |
C | Whether linked to the volcanic eruption (Tambora/q.v. below) of the previous year or not, spring of 1816 had an overall anomaly (on the whole-series mean) of greater than -1C; snow is reported to have fallen ‘all day’ on Easter Sunday (14th April, quite late) in the ‘London’ area, with further snow reported on the 12th May. | 8 | ||
| 1816 (Annual / Summer): THE ‘YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER’ | C | W | 1. A violent volcanic eruption of Tambora, in the East Indies (Sumbawa island / modern-day Indonesia) in April of 1815, threw enormous amounts of dust into the stratosphere, which spread around the globe, not only cutting out direct insolation, but distorting the global wind circulation. In Europe, grain harvests were late, and in western areas of Britain and across Ireland, continuous rain / low temperatures led to total failure of crops with much distress. 2. Notably cold periods June to September). In particular, summer 1816 had a CET value of just 13.4degC, putting it firmly in the top 2 or 3 coldest summers by that measure. 3. The annual (estimated) CET for 1816 = 7.9degC, about 1.3degC below the ‘all-series’ mean. (NB: however, that Scotland was apparently drier/sunnier than elsewhere – this is taken to imply depressions taking a much more southward path. ) [ See also 1883/Krakatoa ] |
CET, 11, 13, VOLC |
|
| September & October 1816 | C | 2nd September: Sharp frost: ice on water near London (Luke Howard) .. this in early September remember!!: (This was described as ‘the year without a summer’ – see above; there were snowdrifts still on Helvellyn, Lake District, on the 30th July. ) After the cold, cheerless summer & early autumn [above], on October 20th, local accounts covering NE Scotland note ‘ a great hurricane & snowstorm. The stooks of corn were yet out in the fields, and the snow had to be cast to get at them; when dug out they were a frozen lump, and could not be thawed for the cattle ‘. |
6 | ||
| 1817 (Summer) |
C | W | A wet summer across England & Wales. (according to Lamb, in CHMW). The anomaly is given as 149% of LTA (1916-1950). 1817 was also a ‘bad’ year across Scotland – with early (i.e. autumnal) frosts damaging / delaying the autumn harvest & much hardship in rural / highland areas.] [ It may be that this obviously cyclonic type was a consequence of the cold, disturbed patterns induced by the Tambora event .. see above. ] |
1 | |
| 1817 (September) | Fog on 7 days in September (London/South). | 8 | |||
| January 1818 | S | Severe westerly gale damaged buildings in Edinburgh; repeated SW-NW gale on the 14th/15th. | 6 | ||
| March 1818 | W | S | Very severe gales caused much damage on 4th, 7th & 8th March. Notably wet across England & Wales (using the EWP series). |
8, EWP | |
| 1818 (summer) | H | D | The summer was claimed to be the longest, driest & warmest in living memory. (?London/South) Overall, using the CET series, the anomaly for the three summer months (JJA) was +1.3C, with June (16.4degC/+2.1C) & July (18.2degC/+2.3C) notably warm. However, August was slightly cooler than average, with an anomaly of -0.3C. It was certainly a dry season, with an EWP figure of 102mm representing ~50% of the all-series mean. At Greenwich, only 40mm of rain was recorded over these three months, with August particularly dry: the value measured at the time (in inches) was 0.1″ (or 2.5mm). This remarkable summer was followed by a wet autumn. | 8, CET, EWP |
|
| 1819 (October) |
C | Snow fell across southern England (including the London area) on the 22nd; amounts in London around 2 inches / 5 cm reported, with greater amounts in the (then very) rural areas of Surrey. | 8 | ||
| 1819 | W | A wet year (in London). | 8 | ||
| 1819/20 (early to mid-winter) |
C | Notably cold weather by CET series. Both December 1819 & January 1820 were notably cold (though not in the ‘top-10′ of such-named months), and the overall winter season figure of 1.4degC represented an anomaly of around -2.3C on the all-series mean. [ NB: February not nearly so cold.] Snow fell widely & heavily towards the end of December, particularly notable on the 28th. During the first three weeks of January, a particularly severe spell produced deep snow across many southern & southeastern counties of England, including the Isle of Wight. The non-tidal Thames froze as far downstream as Kew. There were ice floes in the Thames estuary, with shipping disrupted (very important to commerce in these pre-railway days). At Tunbridge Wells (Kent) a temperature of (minus)23degC was reported, but there are no details of exposure, instrument etc.(‘Weather Eye’ / Issue 19 / Ian Currie) |
8, CET, Currie | ||
| January 1820 | C | Minus 23degC (-10degF) reported at Tunbridge Wells – no details of exposure known. | 6 | ||
| 1820 (summer) |
W | A wet summer (in London). | 8 | ||
| May 1821 | C | 27th: snow in London area. One of the latest known, and possibly *the* latest until 2nd June 1975. (noted as lasting for some 5 minutes). | 6, 8 | ||
| November & December 1821 | W | A wet couple of months (November and December 1821). Total EWP rainfall = 307mm, or about 160% of average. By December, the Thames had risen so much that it flooded the church at Bisham, with a local bridge being washed away on the 26th December. The river was at its highest on the 27th; it was noted at the time as being within 3 inches of the level of the significant floods of 1809. The flooding continued into the New Year. | 8, EWP | ||
| 1821 (December) |
Extremely low atmospheric pressure reading in London. At around 0500/25th, a reading of 948.7mbar (originally read in inches/to nearest 1/1000′th) was observed at Greenwich. Until at least 2006, this is the lowest known reading for the ‘London’ & SE area (Burt/’Weather’/January 2007). | x | |||
| 1821 (Annual) |
W | A wet year (in London). A very wet year using the EWP series (across England & Wales). The %age value was ~115% of the whole-series mean. It was also a notably wet year in the London area (and by rough extension, the SE of England), where Greenwich recorded 34.5 inches (~876 mm) of rain, representing at least 140% of the long-term average. (LW) [ See also the general note at the head of the 1800's ] |
8, EWP |
||
| 1821/1822 (Winter) |
H | W | Notably mild. The CET value was 5.8degC, some 2C above the all-series mean & in the top dozen-or-so mild winters in this long established series. Significant flooding along the Thames over the months of December & January: hardly surprising, given the excess of rainfall in the second-half of 1821, with November & December (EWP) taken together seeing a figure of some 150-160% of the long term average rainfall. Floods were reported from Henley, Maidenhead & Kingston-upon-Thames. (LW) |
1, CET, EWP | |
| 1822 (February) |
S | Severe gale did a great deal of damage on 5th February (London/South?). | 8 | ||
| 1822/23 (Winter) |
C | The notably mild winter of 1821/22 (see above) was followed by a notably cold winter! The 3-month average for this season was 1.4degC, representing an anomaly of over -2C on the all-series mean.(CET). During this severe winter, there was much ice in the Thames at Greenwich by the 30th December. | 8, CET | ||
| Feb. 1823 | C | S | 8th: Great snowstorm in N. England: the ways subsequently opened by tunnelling through drifts. | 6 | |
| 1823 (Summer) |
C | Using the CET series (began 1659), this summer was one of the coldest by that measure across England & Wales. | CET | ||
| October to December 1823 | W | S | 31st October: gales. Thames in flood at Windsor at the beginning of November. Gales 17th December did great damage. |
8 | |
| 1824 | W | S | A very wet year using the EWP series (across England & Wales). The %age value was ~113% of the whole-series mean. It was also a notably wet year in the London area (and by rough extension, the SE of England), where Greenwich recorded 36.3 inches (~922 mm) of rain, representing at least 150% of the long-term average. (LW) [ See also the general note at the head of the 1800's ] 3rd March: Serious damage caused by gale (London/South). Autumn: with an EWP value of 388mm (~150% of LTA), this Autumn is one of the dozen or so wettest such seasons in that series. A number of reports of flooding around the country. |
8, EWP |
|
| 1825 (February) | S | 1. Fog on 6 days in February (London/South). 2. Notable storm 4th February. |
8, Lamb / Wheeler | ||
| 1825 (summer) |
H | D | A dry summer. Three days with maximum temperature 90 degF (32 degC) or above between 15th and 19th July. (London/South?) | 8 | |
| 1825 | C | S | Violent gales did much damage 5th August. Snow fell on 20th & 21st October (?London/South). Damaging gales 3rd November. |
8 | |
| 1826 (January) |
C | A notably cold January (~-3C anomaly/CET) with ‘a great deal of ice’ noted on the Thames at Greenwich on the 13th January, and nearly frozen (?over) at Deptford on the 17th (LW). | 8, CET |
||
| 1826 (Summer) |
H | D | 1. June, July and August: persistently warm weather by CET series. For these three months, the figure was 17.6degC, placing it as the second hottest summer in that series (began 1659) after 1976. The period mid-June to mid-July using the CET series, was one (of two) hottest 30-day periods in that series, with a value of 19.7degC. (See also 1976) 2. Dry by the EWP series. June 1826, with 12.4mm, was the 3rd driest June in that series (update to 1998). Total (summer) rainfall was just 122mm .. not ‘record-breaking’, but still noteworthy. ” A warm summer” (London/South). |
8, EWP, CET | |
| 1826: (Annual) | D | A dry year, in the top 20 dry years in the EWP series, and just inside the ‘top-10′ (as at 2002). | EWP | ||
| 1827 | D | A dry summer (London/South). | 8 | ||
| 1828 (Summer & Annual) |
W | S | A wet summer (148% of LTA 1916-1950) across England & Wales (according to Lamb/CHMW). It was also a wet year by the EWP series. Gale damaged houses & trees on the night 9th/10th August (London/South?). |
1, 8, EWP | |
| 1828 | W | A wet year. | 8 | ||
| 1829 | C | W | A cold year: Continuous frost 16th to 24th January; ice in the Thames on 23rd January. A notably wet summer (168% of LTA 1916-1950) across England & Wales (according to Lamb/CHMW). Note the second wet summer in a row, though only three years after a notably dry year of 1826! The ‘extended’ summer (June to September) showed a %age of 185%. Over an inch (~ 2.5cm) of snow fell on the 7th October. Six inches (circa 15cm) on 25th November (?London/South). (see also entries below). |
1, 8, EWP | |
| 1829 (July) |
W | July, had an EWP of 144mm, and this represented ~230% of the LTA. There was severe flooding on tributaries of the River Aire & reservoir failure at Adel, Leeds (W. Yorkshire) in this month. | EWP | ||
| August 1829 | C | W | Disastrous floods of all rivers between Moray & Angus, after torrential rains 2nd to 4th August, with NE winds & waterspouts. Stone bridges and houses washed away in 5 or 6 counties, coastline altered at river mouths. (July had been very thundery in the South, but cold with night frosts in Scotland). 27th: Further floods in the same districts in NE Scotland as above. August 1829 in particular was in the ‘top-10′ of wet such-named months in the EWP series: floods washed away bridges, altered river courses & caused much loss to agriculture. It was also a cold month, with an anomaly of around minus one-and-a-half C. |
6, EWP, CET | |
| October & November 1829 | C | S | 7th October: snow lay for a while in the London area & elsewhere in the South. (up to the 1960′s, the earliest known date .. “several inches” according to contemporay reports). 14th October: Severe NE gale 13th/14th in Scotland; ships lost. 25th November: ENE gale in Scotland: many ships lost. |
6 | |
| 1829/30 (Winter) |
C | Severe winter. Almost continuous frost 23rd to 31st December 1829, 12th to 19th January 1830 and then 31st January to 6th February. Much ice in the Thames on the 29th December and 22nd January. Thames at Greenwich blocked by ice on 3rd February, but all the ice had drifted out to sea by the 10th February. The CET value for the three ‘standard’ winter months of December, January & February was 1.1degC, or an approximate ‘all-series’ negative anomaly of over two-and-a-half C. Further afield, Lake Constance in central Europe froze over completely for the first time since 1740, and it did not do so again until 1963. |
1, 8, CET | ||
| 1830 (Spring, Summer & early Autumn) |
C | W | Another rather wet period from April to September (England & Wales). A wet summer (in London). Further afield, the summer of 1830 was noted as being “remarkably cold & wet” in Kendal, Westmorland. Using the CET & EWP series, for the three months June, July & August, the overall temperature anomaly was -1C & the precipitation value represented well over 150% of the all-series mean precipitation. |
8, CET, EWP, CUMB | |
| 1830 (December) | C | 1. ‘Spectacular “White Christmas” ‘ this year is thought to be the model on which Charles Dickens based his ‘Christmas at Dingley Dell’ episode in ‘Pickwick papers’. 2. Minimum temperature at Greenwich on 25th December was on 11degF (- 12degC). |
8 | ||
| 1831 | W | A wet year (in London). During a severe storm, 1 inch (25mm) of rain fell in about 30 minutes. Thunderstorms daily from 2nd to 5th August in London. | 8 | ||
| 1832 (February) |
Thick fog 22nd to 25th February (London/South). | 8 | |||
| 1833: (February) | W | 1. Wettest February (as of 2007) in the EWP record. | EWP | ||
| 1833/1834: (Winter) | H | W | 1. One of the warmest winters (by CET) in the series which began in 1659. Up to 1997, rank=2 Value=6.53; Dec=6.9, Jan=7.1, Feb=5.6 (Others: 1686, 1734, 1796, 1869, 1935, 1975, 1989 and 1990.) 2. Notably WET January by the EWP series. |
CET, EWP | |
| 1834/35 to 1837/38: (Winters/Springs): sequence of 4 notably SEVERE winters/cold-springs in Scotland.) | C | W | 1. 1834/1835: Notably snowy winter in Scotland. By the third week of January, 1835, there had been enough snow to seriously disrupt the ‘Mails’, but it was not until the end of February that the greatest quantities were reported. The bad/snowy weather lasted well into mid-March, with depths of 8 or 9 feet being reported. 2. 1835/1836: Another bad winter for snow in Scotland. From December until the end of March, snow was a feature. Heavy falls were reported in January and February, 1836, followed by ‘considerable’ accumulations in March, especially across northern Scotland. In Edinburgh, snow was a problem as late as the 31st March, and it was not until 7th April that there was a significant easing in the situation. 3. A very wet March across England & Wales in 1836; (in the ‘top – 10′ of wettest such-named months in the EWP series). 4. 1836/1837: Although considerable snowfall was reported in January, 1837, the worst of the weather as far as snow was concerned, was still to come. blizzards began at the end of February and on the 14th March, the weather was still ‘severe’. All through March, the weather is still described as ‘severe’ both as to cold & snow. Much transport dislocation, and distress to livestock, damage to root crops etc. On the 12th April, the Glasgow Chronicle reported that the Campsie and Kilpatrick Hills were still white with snow. The wheat was so badly damaged by frost that the farmers had harrowed it down, and were sowing oats instead. Deer were dying through lack of fodder in the hills & the FROST was so severe that many lambs died immediately they were born. 5. 1837/1838: Further considerable snowfall across Scotland. However a late start to the winter, with as late as the 6th January, the weather reported as mild with farmers well on with the work. After the 8th, hard frosts & snow however then became a feature of the winter/early spring, with further notes of disrupted mails, hardship for people and livestock. In some parts of northern Scotland, snow was noted to fall on most days between January 8th & May 3rd. snow was also noted in upland areas of NE Scotland in June. 6. 1837/1838: A cold winter across England & Wales. In the CET record, the value is given as 1.4degC, an approximate anomaly of -2.3C on the all-series mean. Of particular note were the low temperatures experienced during January, 1838, when the monthly average (CET) is assessed as -1.5degC, equal 8th coldest such named month in the series (with 1709 & 1881); the estimated anomaly for this month being over four-and-a-half degC colder than the long-term mean. Indeed, this month only fails by a whisker to make it into the 10 ‘all/any-month’ coldest list. (CET) |
1, CET, EWP |
|
| 1834 | D | W | A DRY spell from February to June, then a WET summer (in London). FOG from 30th September to 6th October (London/South). |
8 | |
| 1835 (summer) |
D | A DRY summer (London/South). | 8 | ||
| October 1836 | C | 28th (or 29th?): SNOW lay in Edinburgh 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13cm) deep: earliest date (up to 1960′s) | 6, 8 | ||
| 29th November 1836 | S | A severe gale blew down trees and unroofed houses (London/South?). | 8 | ||
| 25th December 1836 | C | S | Great ENE gale and snowstorm 25th – 26th, many lives lost: roads throughout England impassable for several days, snow 5 to 15 feet (1.5 to 4.5 metres) deep in many places, a few great drifts 20 to 50 feet (6 to 15m). [ see also entry above and below for whole winter.] | 6 | |
| 1837 | |||||
| 1836 – 1837 (winter & early spring) | C | Although considerable snowfall was reported in January, 1837, the worst of the weather as far as snow was concerned, was still to come. Blizzards began at the end of February and on the 14th March, the weather was still ‘severe’. All through March, the weather is still described as ‘severe’ both as to cold & snow. Much transport dislocation, and distress to livestock, damage to root crops etc. On the 12th April, the Glasgow Chronicle reported that the Campsie and Kilpatrick Hills were still white with snow. The wheat was so badly damaged by frost that the farmers had harrowed it down, and were sowing oats instead. Deer were dying through lack of fodder in the hills & the frost was so severe that many lambs died immediately they were born. During this winter, the only (known) disastrous snow avalanche in these islands occurred on the 27th December 1836, at Lewes, Sussex. Heavy snow started to fall on Christmas Eve, and easterly gales blowing over the top of Cliffe Hill with associated eddies, caused a cornice of snow to build up, overhanging a row of houses which stood below. Three days later, on the 27th, bright sunshine caused a fissure in the cornice. Householders ignored a warning. The houses were demolished, and eight people were killed. The “Snowdrop Inn” on the site commemorates the event. |
GBWFF | ||
| 1837 (Spring) | C | The coldest spring (March / April / May) in the entire CET record. March, with a value of 2.3degC (anom. ~-3C) was one of the ‘top-10′ such-named months, whilst April (4.7degC/anom. ~-3.2C) was the coldest April in the entire series. May was also cold (anom. ~-1.3). The overall seasonal mean CET value was 5.6degC, or around -2.5C on the all-series value (and about 3C below the ‘modern-day’ average). (See also 1770 & 1695) Snow or sleet showers on the 10th & 22nd May (?London/South?) |
8, CET |
||
| 1837/38 (Winter & early Spring) |
C | This severe winter was called “Murphy’s winter”; Patrick Murphy won fame and a small fortune from the sale of an almanac in which he predicted the severe frost of January 1838 (a 2 month frosty period set in with a light SE wind & fine day with hoar frost on the 7th (or 8th) January). 20th January 1838: Lowest temperatures (known / accepted) of the 19th century in London; -16degC reported at Greenwich about sunrise (close to minimum time), -20degC at Blackheath, -26degC at Beckenham (Kent). The temperature in Greenwich was -11degC at midday. The Thames at Greenwich was completely covered with ice at high water on the 27th January 1838. Considerable snowfall across Scotland. However a late start to the winter, with as late as the 6th January, the weather being reported as mild with farmers well on with the work. After the 8th, hard frosts & snow then became a feature of the winter/early spring, with further notes of disrupted mails, hardship for people and livestock. In some parts of northern Scotland, snow was noted to fall on most days between January 8th & May 3rd. snow was also noted in upland areas of NE Scotland in June. A cold winter across England & Wales. (Easton, in CHMW/Lamb): Using the CET record, the average across December / January / February was 1.4degC, or nearly 21/2C below the all-series mean. December was not particularly extreme, but January, with a value of -1.5degC, was in the ‘top-10′ of coldest Januarys, whilst February, with a mean value of 0.4degC, lay just outside the top-10 coldest such-named months in the same record. |
8, CET |
||
| 1838 (February) | S | THE ‘BUDE BREAKWATER’ GALE 1. On the evening of the 24th February, 1838, a southerly GALE developed (” more violent than for years “), this veering west-southwesterly through the night and coincided with a HIGH TIDE in the early hours of the 25th. The inside slope of the Bude Breakwater (built to protect the harbour/canal entrance between 1820 and 1822) gave way (?scouring / over-topping?), with three-quarters of the structure giving way. [ Apparently the mortar had been weakened by a SEVERE FROST in the winter; however, the structure was also deemed to have had too steep a slope, and the replacement breakwater was of much better construction, and has survived many a gale to this day/2003.] DAMAGE also occurred to sea structures all along the south coast of England, including the Plymouth breakwater. |
12 | ||
| 1838 (late Summer / Autumn) | C | Following a severe winter/early spring of 1838 over Scotland [ see above ], the crops were already delayed, and were then DAMAGED in the ground by FROST in August, with the COLD/FROSTY weather continuing through September & October. A large proportion of the crop was lost, with much hardship for rural tenants. | x | ||
| 1838 | C | Cold year: fog on 11 days in September (London/South). Snow showers on the 13th October (?London/South?). |
8 | ||
| January 1839 | S | 1.’The Night of the Big WIND‘: On 6/7 January in Ireland. This is the most notorious of all storms to affect Ireland (also affected other parts of the British Isles – see below). An unusually DEEP DEPRESSION travelling in a north-east direction to the north of Ireland was responsible. GUSTS in excess of 100 knots in places. Over 200 people were KILLED across Ireland & surrounding waters, though the loss of life was relatively low (given the fact of lack of warning etc.), and there was considerable DAMAGE to buildings, shipping and crops. Around 20-25% of houses in Dublin experienced some form of damage, though some was minor (broken windows). Several tens of thousands of trees were uprooted (some sources say ‘hundreds of thousands’ – which is a significant difference); vast amount of salt was deposited a long way inland to the detriment of plant life. > The aforementioned STORM also affected other parts of the British Isles, particularly western & northern parts of Britain, with around 400 killed (not sure if this includes the 200 for Ireland, or if this is in addition). The newly-built Menai Bridge was severely damaged. In Liverpool & in the adjacent waters of the Irish Sea, much DAMAGE ensued – building damage ashore, and loss of vessels & lives afloat. Loss of life for the Liverpool area, land & sea is stated to be around 115, with many-a-breach of local sea walls. (Remember that coastal shipping was of great importance in these days before the railway network reached all corners of the Kingdom). |
6 | ||
| 1839 May | C | Showers of SNOW, sleet and hail on the 14th & 15th May. | 8 | ||
| 1839 (Summer) |
W | A WET summer (148% of LTA 1916-1950) across England & Wales. (Lamb/CHMW). Specifically, July 1839 was in the ‘top-10′ of WETTEST such-named months in the EWP series. | 1, EWP | ||
| 1839 (Annual) | C | W | A WET year and a wet summer (in London). A COLD year for Scotland. Specifically for agricultural areas of NE Scotland (though not exclusively so – just that this is the area I have data), the following are noted: > March: a SEVERE SNOWSTORM, with much DRIFTING – loss of life. > May: about the middle of that month, there was a heavy fall of SNOW with much DRIFTING. > September: Severe FLOODING after HEAVY RAINFALL. DAMAGE / DESTRUCTION of bridges in the area. Over England & Wales, the period June 1839 to January 1840 was notably WET (including the wet summer – see above); the cumulative anomaly for this period was 140%. In December, FOG 1st to 7th December (London/South). |
8, EWP | |
| 1840 (Autumn) | W | Excessively WET over parts of Scotland, particularly the northeast. | x | ||
| 1840 (November) | Thick FOG 27th to 29th November (London/South). | 8 | |||
| 1840 | D | A DRY year both by the London & England & Wales series. From the Greenwich record, the total rainfall for this year was 16.43 inches / ~417mm, or about 70% of the contemporary average. February, March, April, August & December were all DRY, March & April notably so (just 0.09 ins / ~2mm in the latter month). Using the wider England & Wales series, the total was 801mm (~88% of LTA), with March & April very DRY: March 1840, with 10mm (~13%) of RAIN was the third driest such-named month in the entire series. (LW/EWP)[ contrast with Scotland in the autumn - below ] | 8, EWP |
||
| 1840/41 (winter) |
C | Severe winter. All three winter months had CET anomalies considerably below average. | 8, CET |
||
| 1841 (High summer & autumn) |
W | A WET sequence of months from July to November inclusive across England & Wales. Using the EWP series, the approximate anomaly for the period overall was 140-150%. | EWP | ||
| 1844 (Annual) | D | One of the DRIEST years across England and Wales using the EWP series. April, May (DRIEST May in that series), June & December all exceptionally dry. |
EWP | ||
| 1844/1845 (Winter) |
C | A COLD winter over western Europe / implied for parts of Britain. (Easton, in CHMW/Lamb) | 1 | ||
| 1845 (late Summer/early Autumn): |
C | W | BLIGHT & CROP FAILURE ACROSS EUROPE 1. Notably COLD weather July to September. The summer of 1845 (June, July & August) had a mean CET=14.2degC, around a degree below the all-series mean. Specifically, August 1845 was over 2 degC colder than average. This summer was part of a run of poor such seasons from 1843 to 1845, with significantly below average TEMPERATURES using the CET series. 2. Persistent / often heavy RAINS over Ireland accompanied by depressed TEMPERATURES during the second half of the summer, precipitated the start of a great famine. The failure was caused by rotting of the potato (a staple food for poor families in the island) in the ground – the weather conditions (cold / damp) being ideal for spread of the spores which caused the Blight. By October of 1845, there had been a total collapse of the Irish potato source. The situation was made worse because of the failure of the corn harvest in Britain and western Europe, and the indifference of both the government in Westminster [ Ireland was at this time part of the United Kingdom ] & of the land-owners, many of whom were English, or Anglo-Irish. |
CET, 14 | |
| 1845/1846 (Winter) |
H | Notably mild winter in Scotland. (c.f. to ‘severe’ winter conditions much further south e.g. Paris). The generally mild weather lasted from December to early March, when ‘winter’ set in. The mild conditions were also reflected in the CET record, where the value was 5.8degC (roughly +2C), placing the winter within the top dozen-or-so of mild winters. | 1, CET | ||
| May/Jun 1846 | H | D | Hot, dry spell began on 25th. Ended (as a 25-day exceptionally hot, dry spell) in Ireland on 18th June. | 6 | |
| August 1846 | 1st: Violent thunderstorms. Hail smashed glass arcade over Regent Street pavements in London beyond repair. | 6 | |||
| 1846 (Summer) |
H | W | 1. Further high RAINFALL in Ireland – causing additional misery after the previous failure of the potato crop (see above). The hardship in the island continued for many years (until at least July 1849), encouraging emigration & fostering the ill-feeling towards rule from England which was to cause so much strife in the next 150 years. In 1841, the census total for Ireland was 8.17mn; by the 1851 tally, it had fallen to 6.55mn: it has been estimated that over 1mn people died due to the Famine. 2. With a CET value of 17.1degC, this summer over England & Wales was in the ‘top-5′ of WARMEST summers in that series (began 1659). [ I suppose you could speculate that it was for this reason that English landowners did not fully appreciate the plight of poorer people in Ireland. However note that summer 1846 was also WET in the EWP series, with ~125% of LTA RAINFALL.] |
14, CET, EWP | |
| September – November 1846 | S | 20th September: Beginning of period of violent GALES in Ireland, lasting until 21st November. 20th October: Violent STORM in Ireland, probably former tropical hurricane. |
6 | ||
| July 1847 | W | Cloudburst on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall: FLOODING rivers destroyed bridges. | 6 | ||
| 1848: (February) | W | 1. One of the WETTEST Februarys across England & Wales (using the EWP series). | EWP | ||
| 1848 (Summer) |
W | A notably WET summer (157% of LTA 1916-1950) across England & Wales (see Lamb/CHMW). At Greenwich, the total RAINFALL for the three months of June, July & August=247mm (161%). June 1848 was especially WET here (Greenwich), with 89mm or ~210% of LTA. July had below average rainfall (85%), but August was back up to 186% anomaly with 108mm, by far the wettest month of that very wet year (q.v.). | 1, EWP | ||
| 1848 (Annual) | W | 9th WETTEST in the EWP series (as of 2004). Notable FLOODS along the Thames Valley. | EWP | ||
| April 1849 | C | Great SNOWSTORM in S. England: Westerham (Kent) coach buried in drifts. | 6 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Where possible, I have listed the sources above, but remember that these often simply quote others – refer to the original work for a full bibliography.
1. Climate, history and the modern world.
H.H. Lamb
Methuen
1982
2. Woodlands.
W. Condry
Collins
1974
3. The Observer’s Book of Weather.
R. Pearce
Warne
1980
4. World Climate from 8000 to 0 B.C.
[ Proceedings of the International Symposium held in 1966 ]
Various contributors
Royal Meteorological Society
1966
5. British floods & droughts.
C.E.P. Brooks & J. Glasspoole
Benn
1928
6. The English climate.
H.H. Lamb
English Universities Press
1964
7. The Elements Rage.
F.W. Lane
David & Charles
1966
8. London Weather.
J.H. Brazell
HMSO (Meteorological Office)
1968
9. Contemporary Climatology.
Henderson-Sellers & Robinson
Longman Scientific
1986
10. The climate of the British Isles.
P. B. Wright (Ed: Chandler & Gregory)
Longman Scientific
1976
11. Regional climates of the British Isles.
D. Wheeler and J. Mayes
Routledge
1997
12. The Bude Canal
Helen Harris & Monica Ellis
David & Charles
1972
13. Weatherwise
Philip Eden
Macmillan
1995 (and updated)
14. The Weather Factor
Erik Durschmied
Hodder & Stoughton
2000
15. Shell Guide to Britain
(ed.) Geoffrey Boumphrey
Ebury Press
1969 (but data checked / amended against later sources)
16. The Penguin Atlas of Medieval History
Colin McEvedy
Penguin Books
1961
17. The Daily Telegraph “Book of the Weather”
Philip Eden
Continuum
2003
18. “Climate in Everyday Life”
C.E.P. Brooks
Ernest Benn
1950
19. “Encyclopædia Britannica (Multimedia ed.)”
(various)
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1999
20. “The Long Summer”
Brian Fagan
Granta Books
2004
21. “Weather”
Abercromby & Goldie
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd.
1934
22. “Weather Men”
Bernard Ashley
Allman & Son
1970
23. “Historic Storms of the North Sea, British Isles & NW Europe”
H. H. Lamb
Cambridge University Press
1991 (paperback)
(Source abbreviations:
CEPB = Climate in Everyday life/Brooks;
CET= Central England Temperature series (Met Office / Hadley Centre);
CHMW/Lamb = Climate, history & the modern world/HH Lamb);
CUMB = Chronicle of Magistrates, Cumbrian Genealogy (homepages.Tesco.net/~rolygrigg/);
DWS/MWS= Various Monthly/Daily Weather Summaries (UK Meteorological Office);
EWP= England and Wales Precipitation series (Met Office / Hadley Centre);
GPE = Philip Eden’s articles in the Daily Telegraph & elsewhere;
LW = London Weather/Brazell;
LWH= Landmarks of World History web site (www.phenomena.org.uk/);
RJP = Bob Prichard’s summaries of the 20th century; var.
RMS = Royal Meteorological Society ‘Weather Log’;
TEC = The English Climate/Lamb;
TREF= Web site: www.timeref.com
usw = contributors to uk.sci.weather newsgroup);
VOLC= Volcanoes/Decker & Decker; )
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