March 2008 - The very unsettled and windy
weather of late February continued into March as a deep
area of low pressure brought gale force west or north-westerly
winds on the 1st with outbreaks of rain or showers, some
of these very wintry. Winds then eased
a little during the following day, but there were further
outbreaks of rain or showers. Between the 10th and 16th,
many places had severe gales and heavy rain on the 10th,
with the south-west of England especially taking the brunt
of this storm. There were gusts of wind in excess of 70
m.p.h. and some of the rain and showers were accompanied
by thunder. After a brief lull, severe gales were renewed
on the night of the 11th and 12th with northern England
catching the worst, though some very squally winds were
noted further south. Berry Head (Devon) recorded a gust
of 82 m.p.h. on the 10th and Crosby (Merseyside) recorded
a gust of 75 m.p.h. on the 12th. Thereafter, it became
much less windy and there were frosts across parts of northern
England on some nights. However, heavy rain spread north-eastwards
during the 15th, and lasted into the 16th, the heaviest
of the rain across central and southern England where there
were 30 to 50 mm of rain in some localities. |
