mr. a. w. preston’s meteorological notes. 207 
May. 
Not until the 12th day did the shaded thermometer reach 
6o°, but after that date the air was generally warm by day. 
On the afternoon of the 20th (the date of the funeral of 
King Edward VII.) the temperature touched 8o° for the 
only time during the year, and it was remarkable that this 
value was reached before a “ seventy ” had been recorded on 
any previous day. Heavy rains fell on several occasions, 
and thunder was heard on five days. The long-looked-for 
Halley’s comet appeared for the first time on the evening of 
the 22nd, but it was a disappointing object owing to the 
bright twilight and moonlight which prevailed during the 
time of its appearance. 
June. 
This was a fine summer month to the 21st, broken only by 
some severe thunderstorms in the earlier part. On the 
evening of the 7th, a storm of the true summer type appeared, 
with very brilliant lightning, followed by another between 
1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on the 8th. A great deal of thunder 
prevailed all over the kingdom at this period. The third 
week was of ideal midsummer weather, with cloudless skies 
and very warm, but the last week was very electric, with 
thunderstorms on many days, accompanied by a great 
downpour of rain amounting to 1.61 ins. in 9 days. 
July. 
The great tendency to thunderstorms, which characterised 
a large part of June, continued over the early days of July, 
and such tendency was revived again during the latter 
portion of the month. During the first three days these 
storms were of an excessively severe type, doing much 
damage. On the afternoon of July 2nd, the spire of Norwich 
Cathedral was struck by lightning, the accompanying report 
being of a most startling character. Other churches and 
buildings in the vicinity also felt the violence of these storms. 
VOL. IX. 
p 
