WEATHER REPORT FOR 1974

 
    Freezing fog greeted the new year, the first two days being by far the
coldest. After the first week which was rather overcast and wet, the
remainder of the month was mild with several sunny days. However.
January will probably be remembered for the gales which cau.sed much
damage across the country. No snow falls were recorded.
    There were a few sleet and snow showers at the beginning of February,
which was also a mild month with very few sharp frosts. A large low
pressure area in the North Atlantic with its associated fronts brought
widespread and frequent rain. Only two days, the 12th and 20th could be
described as sunny.
    Snow lay on the ground on the 1st and 2nd of March although it was
not very deep. Later in the month there were a few wintery showers of
mainly sleet. The month was dry although dull and mainly overcast with
some weak sunshine in the last week. It was a quiet month. Temperatures
were about average despite rather low maxima.
    Anticyclones dominated the weather in April. The first fortnight
was sunny although some mornings in the first week were foggy. The
second half of the month had far more cloud, but it remained very dry.
Some places in Britain recorded their highest April temperatures since
records began, but Northamptonshire was not one of these places, in fact
it was rather cool. This dry type of weather continued through May. The
rainfall for March, April and May totalled a mere two and a half inches.
    June was as wet as the previous months had been dry. Thunder-
storms on the 9th, 16th and 17th contributed to much of this rainfall, but
there were also periods of prolonged rain. Sunshine was average, most of
the sunny days were in the first half of the month. Although it was
generally warm, the mean temperature was slightly below average.
    There were several sunny days in the middle of July, but the month
was overall very unsettled with countless showers, some very heavy.
There was a thunderstorm on the 13th. Temperatures were again below
average despite the very warm days in the middle of the month.
    August began with a sunny spell, until a belt of heavy rain, associated
with a depression which had travelled from Spain reached the County on
the 4th. This depression brought heavy rain and a thunderstorm. There
were also thunderstorms on the 8th and 17th. It was a generally sunny
and bright month, but cool and locally very wet.
    It was also cool and wet in September, some of the mornings were
quite cold. Sunshine was above average. The 25th had a glorious early
morning rainbow and a late afternoon thunderstorm. There were also
thunderstorms on the 1st and 30th. September also had some strong
winds which reached gale force at times.
    October was very wet and extremely cold. The maximum tempera-
ture failing to reach 15°C in many places, the first time for a quarter of a
century. Only two days could be described as sunny, the remainder was
a combination of sunny periods, cold winds and prolonged rain and
drizzle.
    Sunshine was slightly above average in November, although there
was precipitation of some sort on nearly every day. Continuous rain on
several days put the month's rainfall well above average. Temperatures
were average and fog apart from a little on the first two days was non-
existent.
   December was extremely mild with the highest mean temperature
ever recorded for a December. It was also rather dry and windy.