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45
With this change the wind shifted to the Northward
and afterwards to the Eastward, and the weather became
much colder and drier, with occasional showers of hail,
sleet or snow in the Northern and Eastern districts.
Mean temperatures : Highest, 49.2° ; lowest, 38.4°.
Rainfall at Leyton, 3.12 inches.
December.—In December the conditions were affected by an
almost constant succession of cyclonic systems which
spread in from the Atlantic, the centres of the various
disturbances passing, as a rule, North.Eastwards between
Scotland and Iceland.
The prevailing winds were therefore from between
South and West, often blowing with the force of a gale,
but seldom with as much violence as in the early part
of November.
Temperature was, as a rule, well above the average,
and severe frost was entirely absent, the coldest weather
occurring on the nights of the 6th.8th, or on those of the
22nd or 23rd. The most striking feature of the weather
of December was the frequency of heavy rains, more
especially over the Western and Southern portions of the
country. At most places situated in the Southern parts
both of England and Wales the total fall for the month
was considerably more than twice as much as the average,