432 
The Weather of the Past Agricultural Year. 
sank to 14° at Mayfield, Staffs. At nearly all other times the 
winter was mild and stormy, and in December and January it 
was also very wet. The rainfall was as a rule distinguished 
rather by undue frequency than by excessive weight, but 
between December 11 and 14 a very heavy fall was experienced 
in Cumberland and North Wales, the aggregate amount for the 
four days being as large as 9*7 in. at Pen-y-Gwryd, at the foot 
of Snowdon, 8*8 in. at Seathwaite, in Cumberland, and 5*5 in. 
at Bettws-y-Coed. Some of the worst weather of the winter 
occurred at about Christmas time. On Christmas Eve the 
western and northern parts of the United Kingdom were 
visited by a heavy gale from the South-Westward, and on 
Boxing Day a storm of still greater severity occurred in the 
southern and south-western districts, heavy rains being expe- 
rienced at the same time in nearly all parts of the country. 
During the gale of December 26 the wind blew, in gusts, with 
a velocity of 88 miles per hour in the Scilly Islands, and 98 
miles per hour at Pendennis Castle, on the shores of Falmouth 
harbour. Towards the middle of February the weather became 
quieter and much drier, and over England and Wales as a 
whole the total rainfall of the month amounted to little more 
than half the average. Between the 10th and the 25th there 
were in fact many places in which no rain fell for a fortnight, 
and at Llandudno and Beaconsfield the drought lasted for 
sixteen days. For the winter as a whole the mean temperature 
was well above the average, the excess of warmth being greatest 
in the east and south-east of England. Rainfall exceeded the 
normal by as much as 27 per cent, in the midland counties, 
and 32 per cent, in the south-western districts ; in the north- 
east of England the excess was not more than 7 per cent. 
Bright sunshine was generally deficient, but in the south- 
eastern counties the total duration agreed very closely with 
the average. 
The Spbing of 1913. 
The fair, quiet weather experienced during the latter half 
of February proved of comparatively short duration, the 
succeeding spring months being mostly changeable and very 
wet. March winds were as boisterous as usual, but in place 
of the cold, dry Easterly breezes which bring with them the 
proverbial “peck of dust” the gales were more often from the 
Southward or South- Westward, the principal storms occurring 
between the 4th and 6th, the 15th to 18th and the 22nd to 23rd. 
About the middle of the month the gales were accompanied by 
hail and snow showers (in some parts of Lincolnshire as much 
as four inches of snow fell on the 17th), and on the 15th 
thunderstorms were experienced in many scattered places. 
The South-Westerly gale which occurred on the night of the 
