( II ) 
METEOROLOGY IN I888.1 
First Quarter. — The weather in January was dry and generally fine. 
Tbe temperature of the air was above its average from the 2nd to the 15th, and 
from the 21st to the 2Gth, and below at other times. Fog was veiy preva- 
lent at many places from the 9th to the 14th, the fall of rain was small, and 
snow fell generally towards the end of the month. Streams and springs 
were very low. 
The weather in February was drv, cold, and cheerless. The tempera- 
ture of the air from the 4th to the 10th was mild, with fine weather ; and 
very cold, with temperature below the average, on all other days. The 
rainfall was small, and all brooks and streams were low. Snow fell gene- 
rally throughout the month, particularly about the middle, with a rough 
wind causing great drifts. 
The month of March was cold, wintry, and ungenial. The temperature 
of the air was a little above the average on the five days from the 7th to the 
11th, and below on every other day. The period from February 11th to 
March 6th was very severe, its mean value was 31 "5° ; for a temperature 
approaching this we must go back to 1855, when the mean temperature of 
the same days was 32'2°, and there is no instance of a lower temperature 
back to 1814. Snow fell very frequently throughout the month. 
Second Quarter. — The weather in A2vil was for the most part fine 
and cold. The first twelve days were very cold, particularly from the 3rd 
to the 10th, the temperature of those days being more than 10° below the 
average, with a strong N. and E. wind blowing ; from the 13th to the 18th the 
days were warm ; but from the 19th to the end of the month cold. The 
fall of rain was generally below its average ; vegetation backward. 
The weather in May was upon the whole fine, with very cold nights 
at the beginning of the month, and a good deal of N. and E. winds. The 
only warm period in the month was from the 17th to the 21st, and gene- 
rally on other days it was cold. The fall of rain was small, being about 
one-third of its average. 
The weather in Jane after the first few days was generally cold and 
cheerless. The temperature till the 4th was warm, and was, with the ex- 
ception of a few days, below its average from the 5th to the end of the 
month. The fall of rain was above its average at some places, and less than 
its average at other places. The water supply in the North was deficient, 
and in some places in Lancashire the want of rain was felt severely. 
Third Quarter. — The weather in July was remarkably cold and wet, 
it was ungenial throughout, with very little sunshine. The temperature 
was below its average on nearly every day, and on a few days was as much 
as 15° below the average ; the month was colder than any July back to 
1860. The fall of rain at Greenwich was 6'75 inches, and only once back 
to 1815 has this fall in July been exceeded, viz. in 1828, when it was 7'00 
inches. 
' Abstracted from tlio particulars supplied to the Eegistrar-General by 
James Glaisher, Esq , F.K.S., <S;c. 
