442 Mr. a. w. preston’s meteorological notes. 
June. 
There were considerable fluctuations of temperature during 
this month, and the changes were, as in the previous three 
months, very sudden. On the 2nd, 4th, and 14th the maxima 
were as low as 53 degrees, and on the 29th 55 degrees (or 
12 degrees colder than March 7th !), but from the 17th to 
the 27th it exceeded 70 degrees almost daily. Mean tempera- 
ture was 1.6 degrees deficient. After the 1st the month was 
practically rainless until the 15th. The heaviest rains were 
on the 28th and 29th, when 1.45 ins. fell here in 40 hours. 
This fall was very general over the South and East of England, 
and the amounts recorded at different stations in this district 
varied but little. These heavy rains were caused by a shallow 
barometric depression, the centre of which passed over the 
Thames Valley and London. 
J uly. 
This was a remarkably fine and warm month throughout, 
and was the third warm July in succession. The rainfall 
was greatly deficient, and was but little over a quarter of 
the average fall. On many days, however, the sky wore 
a threatening thundery look, though it but rarely developed 
into thunder or rain. A drop of 15 degrees in temperature 
on the 19th was another of the many instances of this 
occurrence, which was a great feature of 1906, particularly 
from the early days of March. An even more remarkable 
change in temperature occurred on the 22nd, when the 
thermometer, which in the early hours of the previous day 
stood on the grass at 40.5 degrees, jumped up to 80.6 degrees 
in the shade, and on the following day to 82.5 degrees. 
August. 
During the first half of the month the atmosphere was in 
a highly electrical state, and thunderstorms were of unusual 
frequency. On the night of the 2nd a remarkable storm 
