The  Weather  of  the  Past  Agricultural  Year.  363 
18th  in  many  western  districts,  and  on  the  28th  in  Wales  and 
the  north  of  England,  but  over  southern  and  eastern  England 
the  month,  though  again  very  cloudy,  was  upon  the  whole 
somewhat  dry.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  summer  was 
below  the  average,  and  the  total  rainfall  in  excess  of  the 
normal,  but  in  the  east  and  north-east  of  England  the  excess 
was  small.  In  the  south-western  district  32  per  cent,  more 
than  the  average  quantity  was  collected.  Bright  sunshine  was 
deficient,  especially  in  our  eastern  and  south-eastern  counties, 
where  the  total  registration  amounted  to  little  more  than 
three-fourths  of  the  average. 
The  Autumn  of  1910  opened  with  a late  amends  for  the 
unsettled  weather  of  the  summer,  the  month  of  September 
being  in  many  places  the  driest  experienced  for  at  least  forty 
years  past.  The  sky  was,  however,  usually  cloudy,  and  the 
thermometer  failed  therefore  to  rise  to  any  very  high  level, 
the  warmest  weather  occurring  between  the  27tli  and  29th, 
when  shade  readings  of  75°  and  upwards  were  recorded  at 
many  stations  in  the  east  of  England.  October  and  November 
were  both  remarkable,  the  one  for  a singular  absence  of 
autumnal  cold,  the  other  for  an  equally  striking  absence  of 
warmth.  A westerly  gale  of  considerable  severity  swept  over 
the  south  of  England  on  October  2,  but  in  the  earlier  part  of 
the  month  the  weather  was,  with  that  exception,  fair  and  quiet, 
and  on  the  1st  and  2nd  the  thermometer  rose  above  70°  in 
many  parts  of  England  and  Wales.  In  the  latter  half  of  the 
period  the  conditions  were  more  disturbed,  and  between  the 
18th  and  20th  some  very  heavy  falls  of  rain  were  experienced, 
especially  in  Kent,  where  the  amount  on  the  20th  ranged 
between  an  inch  and  a half  and  two  inches  and  a half. 
November  was  throughout  very  stormy  and  unsettled,  with 
frequent  heavy  falls  of  rain,  snow  showers  in  most  northern 
districts,  and  a few  very  slight  falls  of  snow  even  in  the  south. 
A gale  of  considerable  severity  occurred  on  the  6th  and  7th, 
and  gales  of  moderate  strength  at  many  other  times  during 
the  month,  the  weather  being  almost  continuously  cold  and 
inclement.  The  sharpest  frost  occurred  between  the  20th  and 
23rd,  when  the  sheltered  thermometer  fell  below  20°  in  many 
parts  of  England  and  below  15°  at  inland  stations  in  Scotland. 
The  mean  temperature  of  the  autumn  was  in  most  districts 
a little  below  the  average,  with  an  excess  of  rain  over  eastern, 
central,  and  southern  England,  but  a rather  large  deficiency 
in  some  of  the  more  northern  districts.  The  duration  of 
bright  sunshine  agreed  very  closely  with  the  average  in  the 
north-eastern  and  south-western  districts  and  exceeded  it  in 
the  north-west.  Over  our  eastern  and  midland  counties  the 
aggregate  amount  was  small. 
Frederick  J.  Brodie. 
12  Patten  Road, 
Wandsworth  Common. 
