NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 207
The Weather in 1899.—The characteristics of the weather in the United
Kingdom, and particularly in the London district, was thus summarised in the
Standard :—
" The principal features of interest of the year, from a meteorological
point of view, have been the small amount of rain in the summer months and
th persistent high temperatures which have so commonly prevailed through-
out. Wind storms were seldom experienced, and those which occurred over
our Islands were not, for the most part, severe, while in the summer, con-
sidering the spell of hot and dry weather, thunderstorms were of rare occurr-
ence. At the commencement of the year the weather was particularly rough
in the North Atlantic, and many liners were damaged or delayed, while
several steamships were posted as missing. Over our own Islands, the
weather at this time was exceptionally mild, and floods occurred in many
parts in consequence of the heavy rains. The aggregate rainfall for the year
was deficient over the whole of England, the deficiency amounting to 6in. in
the Channel Islands, 5m. in the south of England, and 4m. in the east and
south-west of England. There was a slight excess in most parts of Scotland
and Ireland. The mean temperature for the year was in excess of the average
over the whole area of the British Islands, the excess being greatest over the
southern portion of the Kingdom, although it was also very large in the north
of Scotland. There was an excess of sunshine over the entire country,
amounting to about 350 hours in the south of England and exceeding 200
hours over the whole of England, except in the north-eastern district. In
Ireland the excess was about 150 hours, but in parts of Scotland it was not
very large.
" In the neighbourhood of London, as shown by the records at Greenwich
the total rainfall for the year was 22.1 in., which is 2.4 in. less than the average,
and during the last 17 years there have only been three years with an excess.
It was deficient in eight months, the driest month of the year being August,
with a total measurement of o 35m., which is the driest August for at least 60
years. During the three summer months there was a deficiency of rain
exceeding 4m. The only months with an excess of rain were January,
February, April, and November; and, except in the two latter months, the
excess was unimportant. Rain fell on 143 days during the year, the largest
number of wet days occurring in January, when there were as many as 22;
and this was closely followed by 20 rainy days in April. September and
December are the only other months with more than twelve rainy days.
During the whole of the three summer months rain only fell on 18 days.
" The mean temperature for the year at Greenwich was 51.3 deg., which is
1.8 deg, above the average of the 50 years from 1841 to 1890. There were
eight months with an excess of temperature, and in July, August, and
November it was more than 5 deg. Of the four months with the mean
temperature below the average, there was no month with a larger deficiency
than 1 deg., except December, when it amounted to 3 deg. The warmest
month was July, with a mean of 67 deg. ; the coldest December, with a mean
of 37 deg. The absolutely highest temperature during the year was go deg.,
on August 15th, and the lowest was 19 deg., on Dec. 16th, giving a total range
of 71 deg, for the year. One of the most exceptional temperatures for the
year occurred on September 5th, when the shade reading was 87 deg , and the
mean for the whole day was 13 deg. in excess of the average. The largest
range in any month was 50 deg., in September, the least was 26 deg., in