1964

Winter 1963-64 was very dry and anticyclonic. 1964 was probably the driest year on record (with 706 mm, 79%) according to the England and Wales rainfall record series.

January. Very dry - one of the driest of the century.

February. An anticyclonic month, but not particularly cold. The pressure reached 1047 mbars in the SE of England on the 5th. A foggy month.

March. On the cool side: cold and snowy in the early part of the month. Snow lay over 8" deep in Rotherham on the night of the 15th.

April. Slightly milder than usual. The month however had a very cold start, with easterly winds, and some snow in the SE. High pressure then built from the north on the 4th, and it became warm and dry.

May. Warm (13.3C CET), with some notable thunderstorms.

June. Dull and unsettled.

July. 55.9 mm of rain fell in 15 minutes at Bolton on the 18th. This is the second highest rainfall rate in the twentieth century (after June 1970).

August. Sunny in the south but dull in northern Scotland. It was a dry month in the south, with locally only a quarter of the average rainfall. The temperature reached 33C (91F) at Cromer on the 26th. There were some local frosts during the month, too. This August was the last time the August Bank Holiday was in the first weekend of the month. This Holiday was dry and warm ...

September. Very warm and sunny. This was the last time we had an exceptionally sunny September (more than 150% of the England and Wales average).

October. Cool but fairly dry overall. It was however very unsettled from the 5-17th. 22C was recorded in Herefordshire on the 5th. There was heavy rain on the 6th. A severe westerly gale affected the Channel Islands on the afternoon of the 9th, causing much damage, with a top gust of 108 mph, and hourly average wind speeds of 73 mph. The pressure fell rapidly, at the rate of 6 mbar/hour. Many agricultural greenhouses were destroyed, and the late tomato crop ruined. This was the most severe gale in the area on record - until 1987. Then 67 mm of rain fell along some parts of the SE coast on the 14th, with 77 mm at Dymchurch. Some snow in the south.

November. A little warmer and drier than average. It was particularly fine and dry in the east, particularly the SE. It was the driest November at Kew since 1938.

December. Generally wet and stormy, with flooding in the Lake District and Wales. There was much freezing fog on the 15th. It was a cold but sunny Christmas Day.

Return to British weather homepage

Return to year listings