438 The Weather of the Past Agricultural Year. 
[Continued from page 435.] 
Over the southern half of England the opening week of 
September was marked by exceedingly heavy falls of rain, and 
on the 4th and 5th severe thunderstorms occurred in Cornwall 
and Devonshire, especially around Dartmoor. At Princetown, 
during a thunderstorm on the early morning of the 4th, eight 
bullocks were killed by lightning in one spot, and nearly an 
inch and three-quarters of rain fell in the space of an hour. 
The occurrence of heavy local downpours was, in fact, a 
prominent feature in the weather of the early autumn. On 
September 12 and 13 exceedingly heavy rain occurred in Wales 
(as much as 4 in. at Haverfordwest in the two days), and on 
the 16th and 17th the north of England and the north midlands 
were similarly affected. At Newcastle- on-Tyne nearly two- 
and-three-quarter inches of rain fell on the 16th in an hour 
and a half, and on the following day a phenomenally heavy 
downpour occurred in and around Doncaster. At four rainfall 
stations in the neighbourhood the amount ranged between five 
and six inches, mid was, in common with that which visited 
the Norwich district on August 25 — 26, 1912, one of the 
largest ever recorded in the less hilly portions of the United 
Kingdom. The warmest September weather occurred in the 
closing week, mostly about the 27th, when the thermometer 
in the shade rose above 75° in many places and touched 82° at 
Whitby. The nights were at the same time unusually mild ; 
at Manchester on the night of the 26th the thermometer did 
not fall below 65°. In October there was practically no cold 
weather at all and scarcely any night frosts, the few recorded 
being too slight to exercise any serious effect upon vegetation. 
Thunderstorms and heavy local falls of rain were again 
frequent, the principal downpours occurring between the 5th 
and 7th, when most parts of England were in turn affected; 
on the 14th, in the mountainous districts of Cumberland and 
North Wales, and on the 26th in the south-eastern quarter of 
England. On the evening of the 27th a violent tornado swept 
along the Taff Valley, Glamorganshire, wrecking many build- 
ings and causing some loss of life. Connected, in all probability, 
with the same disturbance, a furious whirlwind occurred a 
little later in the Church Stretton district, where a considerable 
amount of damage to trees and farm buildings was reported. 
November was marked by a continuance of unusual warmth, 
and was in most places the mildest experienced since the year 
1881. The only frosts of any consequence were restricted to 
small areas and occurred between the 6th and 9th and on the 
23id ; on the latter occasion the sheltered thermometer fell to 
~1 at W okingham, and to 22° at Raunds, near Northampton. 
Heavy rains were, not nearly as frequent as in September or 
October, but considerable falls occurred around Snowdon on 
