Rainy

Ditto. Gorgeous sunshine -- so nice to see after so many months of cloud and rain. Temp now 1.7C.

Plenty of clear sky about now.. Perishing cold wind Temp now 1.9C. Pressure falling.

Gorgeous Alpine sunshine at midday. Then sleety icy rain for the past hour. Moving some of the snow. Wet and slushy underfoot. Feeling bitter as a sneaky NW wind has picked up. Seems to have been calm throughout the last 2 days. 2.4C now.

Was snowing here since early morning till about 10am. 2 inches lying on everything, even every little twig.. The sun has just popped out for a few seconds. Cloud base lifting on the fells. Now about 800ft. Current temp 2.8C

Steady light snow. Maybe a touch heavier than an hour ago. Temp 1.9C. Everything plastered in thin white coat, including car. Very "Christmassy". We deserve it after putting up with so much rain in 2012.

Steady light snow. Grass and trees whitened now. Temp 2.1C.

Steady snow drizzle here now. Had stopped for a while, but now seems more determined and it's sticking on cold bare ground. Paths gone white. Viz poor. Can scarcely make out the fells through the off white murk.. Temp 2.5C

Very light fine snow falling. Temp 2.5C.

Chains / skeins of geese migrating westwards over here for the last 3 days. Today very many passing over, right up to the edge of dark. Making for the coastal marshes probably or arable lands in West Lancs or Martin Mere Wildfowl sanctuary. An old uncle of mine, who is an expert on wildfowl, reckons they will be enjoying the rotting potatoes in the flooded fields. We used to see them passing over in December.. Folks up here reckon they are a sign of a change to cold weather. Or is it a sign of cold weather making them leave their feeding grounds or maybe they've simply eaten up at their last port of call?

Manual daily gauge. Met Office observer for over 40yrs here with same kit. 2012 was a record wet one here, 1984.0mm. I tell folks 6ft 6ins. Startles them. We'd virtually all be drowned. A relative near Kendal in Lake District had over 2000, but wasn't a record.

Yes. I have. Seems strange to hear a bit of noise outside when there's a puff of wind. Seems to have been like that for months.Don't mind it though. Calm weather has made all the rain a touch more tolerable. But what about lack of sunshine. Are there any stats for this year and previous, specaially for western hills?.

Typical upside down weather..... A cold Spring just when the gardeners are sowing seeds. Then comes the rain for all summer and autumn....

Didn't manage 2m after all... The record 2012 total has come to 1984.0 mm. That's 36.6 mm the total for 2000 the previous wettest year. Now for some sun and drought please.

19.4mm picked up at 9GMT for previous 24hrs. Now need 19.2 mm to reach 2m. Never thought we'd get so near. Big showers about now but I doubt we'll get enough.

Smashed our wettest year (2000) by 1 mm at 9 GMT. 2012 total now 1948.8mm. Rained a lot since then. Can we get to 2 m by 9am on Jan1st?

2 metre barrier. There's an interesting thought. Here currently 1924.4 mm. Can the last 3 days really be that wet? That's a challenge too big for here I think.

Now 23.1 mm wanted. As you suggest TM it looks like we should get there. I collect at 9am GMT as required by the Met O. So some of Jan 1st goes in the 2012 pot. The last drop might be needed. Earlier in Dec, in the mini dry spell 9th -- 13th, I was doubtful about beating 2000 record. The break through came on Dec 22nd with 34.1 mm.

December so far 208.4 mm. Just another 27.0 mm to beat the wettest year (2000) since daily recording started here in1968.

Up and up. 10.8C now

Pushing the max for today even at this time of night. Currently 10.1C.

Thanks Aaron. Some long-loved stations there -- yes, I did write "loved"..

Underemployment http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20509189 This set me thinking (aka saddling my favourite hobby horse). We live in rain ravaged islands, requiring much restorative work now after damage these last few months and probably requiring an awful lot more in the future. So surely there will be – or should be – plenty of work ahead in groundworks. (Put aside for now all the ash tree felling ahead of us!) Our present troubles remind me of serious very wet weather in Lancs in the mid- late 1950s. A vast area of West Lancs was repeatedly inundated. This was Martin Mere, a reclaimed fenland. The silts and peats there make rich farmland and in that wet spell important harvests were lost year after year. Main trouble was the old pumping and drainage system unable to cope. A new pumping station was built and main drains re-dredged. Problem mostly solved. However it was noted at the time of the floods, that the embankments breached at the side of the waterways had been neglected. With men away in wartime, there had not been enough labour to control vermin over the many miles of embankments, which had therefore become riddled with tunnels and weakened. Are we in such a situation again? Have we had too many cutbacks? Have we lost touch and assumed the environment looks after itself? Have we shut ourselves into our cars and warm offices etc thinking “someone†out there is attending to things. How many of us take close notice of potential problems such as blocked drains or erosion? Have the “authorities†had enough funding / staff to fix things properly when we contact them? So looking ahead from now, will we have enough strong young men (or indeed women) prepared to do manual work in rough conditions? Could they be persuaded to take pride in such essential work to keep the UK in good order? Will we give encouragement to our youngsters to consider this? Not all work can be done by sitting on a machine, even if we can afford the fuel /hire. Work requiring you to bend your back and probably blister your hands has not been an exciting career choice unless the wages were very good. There's the core of the problem – are we prepared to make the investment.

Nasty landslip at Whitby. http://www.whitbygazette.co.uk/news/local/historic-homes-doomed-by-landslide-1-5172749'>http://www.whitbygazette.co.uk/news/local/historic-homes-doomed-by-landslide-1-5172749 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-20527471 http://www.whitbygazette.co.uk/

The world's gone mad. Where is 007 when you need him.

Today just after 5pm the Sec of State for DEFRA, Owen Paterson, gave a statement in the House of Commons about the recent floods. Probably will be available on BBC I Parliament. Many questions afterwards from other MPs, specially from the areas currently dreadfully affected. There was some mention of problems earlier in the summer also. I hope that included us in the Lancashire hills. Farming up here has been at a standstill since midsummer. Thoroughly wet weather so often and lands deeply saturated. Temperatures depressed by the almost endless cloudiness , thus remarkable poor plant growth, Interestingly only 2 MPs mentioned climate change. Paterson replied to one of them by simply stating we will have to "react and adapt". So in other words, carry on and cope with the drenchings and failing farming, just as some in the world have to cope with rising sea level. Curious that he said nothing about working closely with DECC who have a Minister for Climate Change. Perhaps he hadn't time today. Let's hope our UK reps at the Doha talks next week really work hard to get some international progress.