420 The Weather of the Past Agricultural Year. 



14th, while in the south the closing week was marked by 

 severe thunderstorms, accompanied in many places by rain of 

 quite a torrential character. On the 31st as much as 3*6 in. of 

 rain M^as measured at Banstead, 2' 9 in. (in three hours) at Epsom, 

 and 1'6 in. (in one hour) at Sevenoaks. The warmest weather of 

 the season occurred during the last three days of May, when the 

 thermometer in the shade rose to 80'\ or slightly above it in 

 many scattered parts of the country. 



The Summer of 1911. 



The uniqiTe character of the summer of 1911 may be gauged 

 by the fact that about the middle of August a general complaint 

 arose as to the monotonous continuance of sunshine and heat. 



The long drought which conmienced in May continued 

 throughout the earlier half of June, by which time many 

 localities in the southern parts of England and Ireland had 

 experienced an entire absence of rain lasting for more than 

 four weeks. On June 5 the thermometer rose above 80^^ in a 

 number of places, a reading of 85" being recorded in and 

 around London, and a reading of 88'^ at Camden Square. Cool 

 northerly winds afterwards set in, and between the nights of 

 the 12th and 14th sharp and destructive ground frosts were 

 experienced in many districts, an unusual occurrence within 

 little more than a week of Midsummer Day. The week ended 

 June 24 (Coronation week) proved, unfortunately, one of the 

 worst of the whole summer, heavy rain setting in over a large 

 portion of England and Wales on the evening of the 23rd, and 

 continuing in many northern districts throughout the whole of 

 the following day. On the 24th amounts varying between two 

 and three inches were recorded at a number of gitations in the 

 north of England ; at Morpeth the fall in twenty-four hours 

 was nearly three inches and a half, while at "Whitby a con- 

 tinuous fall, extending over fifty-five hours, yielded nearly 

 3'7 in. Early in July a marked improvement in the weather 

 took place, and for about three weeks the conditions were fine 

 and hot, an entire absence of rain being experienced at nearly 

 all places in the southern parts of England and Wales. Day 

 after day the maximum shade temperature exceeded 80", while 

 on the 7th and 8th the thermometer rose to between 85" and 

 90°, a reading as high as 91" being recorded at Wilton, near 

 Salisbury. In another burst of great heat, which occurred on 

 the 21st and 22nd, readings above 90" were recorded in many 

 places, the thermometer on the 22nd touching 96" at Greenwich 

 and 97" at Epsom. In the closing week of July the weather 

 became unsettled and thundery, an unusually severe storm 

 occurring in West London on the 28th, and more general 

 storms on the following day, when the electrical disturbance 



