The 13th Century:- Frost and Drought....Worcestershire

[ANYWEATHER]

1200, Severe cold set in during the Autumn with Snow lasting from January to March. Many people died of frostbite and thousands of birds froze to death. March saw a big thaw with vast areas of farmland under water.

1210, An Artic like frost set in from new years eve to St Valentines day. The intense frost froze all rivers to a great depth. Frost fairs were held on the River Severn and River Wye along with pig roasts and horses rode on the River Severn between Worcester and Gloucester. 

1236, Monsoon like rains fell  through January,  February and early March. Many Livestock were drowned. Then a dramatic turn around in Weather from late March until August , a Prolonged drought set in and even though it was an extremely wet Winter river levels fell very low on the Rivers Teme and Avon.

1246, A sudden severe frost arose after a dry March . This frost damaged much of the fruit crops.

1247, The Spring had a dramatic cold spell. Late snow storms brought many feet of snow drifts. A small Tornado was reported to have lifted up Fowl pens and dumped them a mile away ,stripping the hens of their feathers . Sudden thaws brought flooding.

1252, A  severe drought caused crops to fail and water became so scarce that people were moving away to find water.

1253, The extreme drought conditions the previous year had not relinquished and the Spring and Summer of this year if anything was even worse with rivers brought just to a trickle and streams and ponds completely drying up from months of hot relentless sunshine. Livestock suffered severely.  During the Autumn flash flooding occurred with massive thunderstorms. 

1255,Another great drought struck the area . High winds at times whipped up the drought stricken soil and the air was often filled with dust. Dust devils were common place one reported to be at least 700 feet high snapping off branches as it passed trees.

1258, Torrential rain fell on the area during late Spring early Summer along with Hurricane force winds.Many areas were devastated. Flooding became a problem again.

1287, At last a few years with good harvests with an equal amount of rain and sunshine which brought the price of wheat down lower than anytime between 1260 and 1400.

[DAVID SNOW]

Interesting times, makes current UK extremes look fairly tame.

[Weather-history]

2 minutes ago, DAVID SNOW said:

Interesting times, makes current UK extremes look fairly tame.

That covers  a century.

Look at the weather in the last 100 years.......

Edited August 5, 2021 by Weather-history

[DAVID SNOW]

On 05/08/2021 at 21:07, Weather-history said:

That covers  a century.

Look at the weather in the last 100 years.......

Last 100 years for the UK?

I'd say pretty mixed, no doubt not helped by the massive population explosion, with over time, villages becoming towns, and towns becoming cities, and the cities themselves ever expanding into the country side . All that 'new' concrete, steel and tarmac and people wonder why it's getting warmer here, and flooding is the like never seen before.............

[reef]

On 05/08/2021 at 20:51, ANYWEATHER said:

1200, Severe cold set in during the Autumn with Snow lasting from January to March. Many people died of frostbite and thousands of birds froze to death. March saw a big thaw with vast areas of farmland under water.

1210, An Artic like frost set in from new years eve to St Valentines day. The intense frost froze all rivers to a great depth. Frost fairs were held on the River Severn and River Wye along with pig roasts and horses rode on the River Severn between Worcester and Gloucester. 

1236, Monsoon like rains fell  through January,  February and early March. Many Livestock were drowned. Then a dramatic turn around in Weather from late March until August , a Prolonged drought set in and even though it was an extremely wet Winter river levels fell very low on the Rivers Teme and Avon.

1246, A sudden severe frost arose after a dry March . This frost damaged much of the fruit crops.

1247, The Spring had a dramatic cold spell. Late snow storms brought many feet of snow drifts. A small Tornado was reported to have lifted up Fowl pens and dumped them a mile away ,stripping the hens of their feathers . Sudden thaws brought flooding.

1252, A  severe drought caused crops to fail and water became so scarce that people were moving away to find water.

1253, The extreme drought conditions the previous year had not relinquished and the Spring and Summer of this year if anything was even worse with rivers brought just to a trickle and streams and ponds completely drying up from months of hot relentless sunshine. Livestock suffered severely.  During the Autumn flash flooding occurred with massive thunderstorms. 

1255,Another great drought struck the area . High winds at times whipped up the drought stricken soil and the air was often filled with dust. Dust devils were common place one reported to be at least 700 feet high snapping off branches as it passed trees.

1258, Torrential rain fell on the area during late Spring early Summer along with Hurricane force winds.Many areas were devastated. Flooding became a problem again.

1287, At last a few years with good harvests with an equal amount of rain and sunshine which brought the price of wheat down lower than anytime between 1260 and 1400.

Source? 

[ANYWEATHER]

21 hours ago, reef said:

Source? 

Worcestershire Sauce of Course From a local book I've had for years and the Likes of the Worcester Evening News and Reed Midland Newspapers and the Hereford Times etc contributed to the books info...☺