The Weather during the Agricultural Year , 1907-1908. 385 
in Cumberland and central Wales on the 13th, the downpour 
on the latter occasion being associated with a deep storm 
system which skirted the north of Scotland and occasioned 
strong westerly to north-westerly gales over the entire kingdom. 
Another heavy fall of rain occurred in the north-west of 
England on the 19th, when Aspatria received as much as 
2\ ins. in the space of twenty-four hours. Towards the end 
of December a wave of cold air began to spread in from the 
Continent, but the decline in temperature was at first very 
gradual, and in many places the month was characterised by the 
absence of any shade reading lower than the freezing point. 
In London the lowest temperature recorded in tbe screen was 
as high as 33°, and was at least 3° higher than in any December 
of the previous thirty-five years. 
With the beginning of January the cold became far more 
severe, and between the 3rd and the 6th the thermometer sank 
below 15° in many inland parts of England ; the lowest 
readings reported at the time being one of 10° at Raunds 
(Northampton), 11° at Stokesay, and 12° at Hereford. On the 
1 5th there were many places in which the thermometer remained 
at least 5° below the freezing point all day. A mild south- 
westerly wind was, however, then beginning to spread over our 
western districts, and in the course of the next twenty-four 
hours a rapid thaw took place over the entire country, the 
change in temperature amounting in many districts to at least 
30°. On the 7th and 8th a deep cyclonic disturbance passed 
eastwards across the United Kingdom, and occasioned strong 
westerly to northerly gales and heavy falls of rain and snow, 
especially in the east and south-east of England, where the 
snow on the morning of the 8th lay from 3 to 8 in. deep. 
After this the weather became more settled, and between the 
10th and 13th another sharp frost was experienced, the ther- 
mometer falling below 15° in many places, and reaching 10° at 
Rauceby, in Lincolnshire. The latter half of January was 
mild, dull, and often very foggy, but at the close of the month 
it became somewhat colder, with snow on the 28th or 29th in 
several places. 
February included two clearly marked periods of weather, 
the first half of the month being mostly fair and dry, the second 
half stormy and wet. During the former period two sharp frosts 
occurred, one between the 1st and 2nd, and the other about 
ten days later. On each occasion the sheltered thermometer 
fell at least 10° below the freezing point in many parts of Eng- 
land, while on the surface of the ground it went 5° or so lower. 
In the second period the westerly wind often blew hard, and on 
the 22nd a severe gale from that quarter or from north-west 
swept over the whole kingdom, and occasioned much structural 
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