Overall a mild winter but cool summer. Yuk: the worst pattern I can imagine. It was a very wet year in Scotland, with some places getting twice the average preciptation. The highest temperature of the year was only 29.7C (in July) - making this the only year since 1981 when 30C has not been exceeded at least once during the year. The period February 1992 to January 1993 was the wettest 12 months on record for Scotland, with an average of 1823 mm. Like 1992, overall the year was cooler than average - a consequence of the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Phillippines in 1991, perhaps. It was the coldest autumn since 1952 going by the CET, and we haven't had one anywhere near as cold since. 1993 was the last time the highest temperature of the year in the UK wasn't above 30C.

January. Very mild (5.9C CET), unsettled, with many gales (with 13th, 17th, 23rd, and 24th were worst). It was the wettest January in western and central Scotland since 1928. A record low pressure was set for the north Atlantic, on the 10th: 916 mbar was confirmed (and 913mb claimed) off NW Scotland. This is the lowest pressure in the world outside of tropical storms and the centres of tornadoes. This low pressure accompanied by the Braer Storm on the 10th; the gales led to the final breakup of the oil tanker Braer, stranded by an earlier storm in the previous week. A severe blizzard affected Scotland and the north of England on the 11-12th, with 30 cm of level snow, and 30' drifts. There was severe flooding in the Perth region as the Tay and Earn broke their banks following the thaw.

February. Very dry (the driest since 1959, and in some places since 1934). A very anticyclonic month. Rainfall average of 10% expected total in the south. Very dull: 16 days without sun from the 3rd to 18th in the Midlands. Very warm in northeast Scotland. Notable storm surge on the 21st caused flooding along the North Sea coasts, with Norfolk particularly badly affected.

March. Dry, warm, and sunny, particularly in the SE. On the 15th it was 19.7C at Northolt - the highest temperature in the London region in the first half of the month since 1961.

April. Dull, wet, and warm. It reached 24.2 at Aviemore, Highland, on the 30th and 25.8 at Creebridge (Galloway).

May. Unusually easterly month; locally very wet, particularly central Scotland. Snowstorm across northern England and southern Scotland 13-15th: 79mm fell in Edinburgh.

June. Mostly fine and dry, but there were some very violent thunderstorms and heavy rain midmonth (9-16th). A thunderstorm gave 125 mm of rain at Culdrose (Cornwall); 92 mm in two hours early on the 9th. Flooding in Helston. Hailstone damage to glass In Northants. 175mm on the 10th at Llandudno, 140mm of it in 4 hours; flooding over the area and in Conwy. 121 mm in 2.5 hours at North Weald, with much flooding. 92mm in three hours at Epping. There was more very heavy rain over Wales and the southwest on the 11th and 12th, with strong wind and low temperatures; 130 mm on Davistow Moor (N Cornwall) in 24 hours. The month was very dull in Scotland.

July. Unsettled and cool. The dry weather at the end of June continued for the first week. The highest temperature of the year was 29.7C at East Bergholt (Suff.) on the 4 July; this is particularly notable, as it is the only occasion since 1981 when the annual maximum failed to exceed 30C. On the 9th an exceptional cold front brought heavy rain and a large temperature drop to the south, along with a strong northwesterly. Whipsnade had a midday temperature of 7.5C. At Birmingham airport the 1 om reading was 9.8C, Lerwick 8.5C; snow was recorded on some of the higher peaks in Scotland. In some places such as London there was an instant dramatic fall in temperature. At Heathrow the temperature fell from 18.5C to 10.7C in minutes in the early afternoon

August. Dry and sunny but cool (CET 14.6). On the 22nd the Midlands only reached 13C.

September. Cool, dull, and very wet (except in Scotland). The month started with a warm day, Malvern recording 27.2C. The 27th was unusually cold, with widespread a maximum of about 9 across the Midlands and east, and only 7.9C at Whipsnade (Beds.), making it the coldest September day in the south since 1918.

October. Cold, wet, and sunny; and an unusually easterly month. Cyclonic start, anticyclonic end, notable for its variety in weather and across locations. In the SE there were 6 consecutive air frosts in the third week. -9.9 on the 15th at Carnwath, near Glasgow. Snow in Scotland, starting on the 13th on the hills; however, there were 4 cm at Aberdeen on the 16th - the first snow in mid-October there since 1973. There was also a sequence of 6 sharp frosts, with -9.9C at Carnwath, near Lanark, on the 17th being the lowest. Flooding across eastern England. There were tornadoes in the midlands on the 5th, particularly at Rothwell (Northants.), and severe thunderstorms with hail affected Leicester and Nottingham on the 6th. Thunderstorm on the 11th in the southeast led to flooding around Windsor.

November. A cold month (4.6C CET) overall, with snow and some low temperatures from the 20-22nd. It was the fifth consecutive month beneath average in the south. On the other hand, it was dry and sunny in the north. However, it started very mild: 18C in Southampton on the 4th. Notable gale on the 14th. Particularly cold in the second half of the month. Substantial snowfalls in the southeast, with 10 cm of snow lying in East Anglia and Kent on the 22nd. Snow cover lasted for four days in parts of north London. There was freezing fog on the 28th: high of -8C at Braemar with a minimum of -15C.

December. Very mild in the south, cold in Scotland. Generally very wet (the wettest since 1979). Severe gale on the night of the 8th/9th in the south, with flooding. 100 mm in 48 hours in the upper Rhondda valley around the 18th. Warm air led to widespread readings of 15.5 on the 18/19th. Wet, but with some snow between Christmas and the New Year. Technically (see above), a White Christmas. Snow on the 28th, then mild and wet: 50 mm of rain at Southsea on the 30th. This led to flooding across West Sussex, which intensified in January 1994. More flooding along the south coast at the end of the month, particularly on the Isle of Wight and in Cornwall (particularly around Polperro, causing much damage).