339 
The Summer of 1 1 ) 0 (> . 
whole country at the beginning of August. On August 1 an 
exceedingly heavy fall occurred in Wales and the neighbouring- 
parts of England, while on the following day a destructive 
whirlwind was experienced in and around Guildford, and a still 
more destructive hailstorm in north-east Bedfordshire and the 
neighbouring parts of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. 
In the latter case the crops over a large area, which promised 
an abundant yield, were beaten down and entirely destroyed, 
the total loss of property being estimated at about 55,000/. 
June opened with thundery weather, but the conditions 
soon improved, and for about three weeks the country 
experienced an almost uninterrupted run of bright sunshine, 
the only important exc ption occurring between the 13th and 
16th, when thunderstorms occurred in many places. With a 
general prevalence of winds from some northerly quarter the 
thermometer was usually rather low for the time of year, and 
between the 4th and 6th slight ground frosts were experienced 
in various parts of the eastern and midland counties. Towards 
the close of the month the weather became warmer, but less 
settled, and between the 28th and 29th, a heavy fall of rain 
occurred over southern England, the amount in the space of 
about twelve hours, being as large as 2*4 in. at Kew, 2*2 in. at 
Rothamsted, and 2'1 in. in Central London (at Westminster). 
Between 9.45 a.m. and 10 a.m. on the 27th, earthquake shocks 
of an alarming character were experienced in South Wales 
and the West of England, and in some localities a certain 
amount of structural damage was reported. 
July was upon the whole tine and fairly dry, but until very 
nearly the close of the month the thermometer failed to rise to 
any very high level for the time of year. Thunderstorms were 
rather general over the south and east of England on the 11th 
and 12th, the weather being, however, at the same time very 
cool, with slight ground frost in some few parts of our eastern 
and midland counties. A near approach to ground frost was 
also reached in the northern and central parts of the country 
on the night of the 20th. In the last week of the month the 
weather became, as in June, warm and changeable, with 
thunderstorms and heavy rain over eastern, central, and 
southern England on the 27th. On the 30th the thermometer 
rose to 80° and upwards in many parts of the country. 
August opened with a spell of exceedingly unsettled weather, 
the thunderstorms of the 1st and 2nd being attended in some 
parts of our midland and southern counties, as we have already 
seen, by violent and destructive effects. After this outburst, the 
conditions improved, but for the remainder of the month the 
weather, although much finer in the south and east than else- 
where, was never quite settled. Further thunderstorms which 
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