November 2002

1st to 2nd A mild but very wet and windy start to the month as fronts moved north-east across the region. The rain was heavy at times with hill and coastal fog in the south-west.

3rd to 4th Mainly mild and dry after some scattered showers at first, some were accompanied by thunder.

5th to 10th Atlantic depressions passing by brought wet and windy weather but it was mild or very mild, 17.2 °C being recorded at Saunton Sands, Devon on the 5th. There were periods of rain and showers, heavy at times, with thunder. Later a small low moved eastwards over northern parts bringing more wind and rain. The 9th gave a dry interlude before rain spread in during the evening, preceding another mild day with rain at times on the 10th.

11th to 14th A north Atlantic low brought bands of rain and secondary depressions to the region. There was widespread heavy rain often thundery especially in southern and western areas. During the 13th/14th a secondary low migrated northwards from Biscay touching 965 hPa. There was 80 mm overnight in Penzance with severe flooding there and in St Ives, where cars were washed away. Much of Devon and Cornwall had heavy thundery rain with many roads impassable due to flooding. A gust of 64 knots was recorded at Portland.

15th to 20th Rather unsettled with rain at times. A low centre to the south on the 15/16th brought rain and thundery showers to many places especially to southern areas. A quieter interlude from the 17th to the 18th allowed fog and overnight frost to develop, with Redesdale in Northumberland falling to -3.1 °C. The fog was slow to clear from the Midlands and East Anglia. Rain edged slowly into the west on the 19th and 20th.

21st to 24th With low pressure west of Ireland , more bands of rain and showers affected the region, some were heavy and thundery especially in the south during the 23rd and 24th. Mostly mild, flooding again affected the south-west.

25th to 26th A mainly dry, quiet interlude but with fairly extensive mist and fog slow to clear in places. Some scattered showers broke out from time to time in extreme southern and western areas.

27th to 30th Unsettled and mostly wet again. Atlantic fronts brought yet more rain to south and south-western areas during the 27th and 28th with showers turning thundery in many places later. Cornwall saw widespread flooding with some main roads closed. After a brief foggy respite on the 29th more wet weather spread in from the south-west on the 30th. Central London had its wettest November since 1940, while Milford Haven (south-west Wales) received 372 mm, a record for November from 1964. Birmingham had its first air frost free November since 1946.

A large area of low pressure lay to the west of the British Isles for most of November, and winds with a southerly component brought mild and often wet weather. Winds across Scotland frequently blew from the south-east, causing the east of Scotland to receive some heavy falls of rain while the north-west was relatively dry.

The first five days were particularly mild as the low pressure was located to the south of Iceland and south or south-westerly winds covered Scotland. The temperature stayed above 10 °C all night at Stornoway on the 3rd and rose to 14.6 °C at Aboyne on the 5th. Rain and showers were frequent and gusts reached 76 knots. at Sella Ness on the 3rd.

A colder, showery westerly airstream covered Scotland on the 6th, and as the next major weather system was slow to arrive, the weather quietened down for a while. Fronts finally pushed across the country early on the 10th to bring another spell of south-easterly winds with showers or longer periods of rain.

On the 14th and 15th a depression moved north up the eastern seaboard of Scotland to bring a period of heavy rain to the east, with 31 mm at Charterhall on the 14th and 44 mm at Kinloss on the 15th. This gave rise to severe flooding at Elgin. A weak ridge of high pressure followed, bringing a fine day to the whole country on the 17th. It was cold at night with the temperature falling to -6.8 °C at Kinbrace.

For the next few days the wind blew from the south-east, and at first it was mainly dry. Fronts then brought heavy rain to the east, with 36 mm at Dyce on the 20th and 37 mm at Enochdhu the next day.

The weather became benign from the 22nd to 24th, with broken cloud and just a few showers.

From the 25th onwards, low pressure in the Atlantic pushed a succession of fronts across the country, bringing mild and wet weather.

It has been a very unsettled November month across Northern Ireland. Rainfall values recorded have been well above average, while temperatures have been mild throughout the province. Overall sunshine duration has been slightly below normal for this time of year.

1st to 4th This was a very mild period across the province. All regions recorded daytime maximum values in double figures throughout the period with many areas recording over 14 °C on the 2nd. Heavy rain plus some heavy downpours were recorded on the 1st and 2nd while more showery precipitation occurred on the 3rd and 4th. It was sunny on the 3rd while little or no sunshine was recorded anywhere on the 1st, 2nd and 4th.

5th to 10th Although another mild spell, a succession of Atlantic depressions and weather fronts brought more unsettled conditions. Bands of rain with some heavy downpours effected most days. The 9th and 10th were dry throughout the day, though rain did spread into the province during the evening of the 9th. The sunniest period of the month in many locations occurred over the 6th and 7th.

11th to 14th Low pressure systems mainly from the north-west dominated the weather conditions over this period. Temperatures were around normal with the first ground frosts of the month recorded in some areas on the 13th and 14th. Although the 11th and 12th were mostly dry, heavy rain was recorded on the 13th and 14th especially in the east causing localised flooding in many areas. It was a sunny period though no sunshine was recorded on the 14th.

15th to 20th Temperatures were around or slightly above normal, though some western areas recorded ground frost on the 17th and 18th. It was mostly dry between the 15th and 17th, while heavy rain with some heavy downpours were recorded between the 19th and 20th causing localised flooding in some areas.

21st to 26th A mild but dull and unsettled period, with bands of heavy rain and showers occurring on all days except for the 25th. Many areas in the east of the province recorded around 10 mm or more of rainfall on the 21st, 23rd and 26th

27th to 30th Mild, wet and dull across the province, though the 28th in most places was fairly dry with some sunny spells. It was exceptionally mild during the overnight period of the 26th/27th. Fog was widespread on the 29th.