October 18th this year heralded a run of weather where it has hardly stopped raining in this part of the south-east.

Since that date there has been 101mm of rain with 22 ‘rain days’, 24 hour periods where there’s been 0.2mm of rain or more. Just one of the last 24 days has been completely dry.

In terms of the 1991-2020 average the amount represents just under twice the usual amount of rainfall at this time of year.

In terms of unusual weather patterns it is up there amongst the ‘top 10’.

What does it mean for the coming winter. Impossible to say on a small scale but I’m guessing wet and mild in the south. Note however that 1960/61 and 1998/99 had a number of maritime northerly outbreaks which added up to an average winter in Scotland, and plenty of snow for the Highlands.

Also note how similar this autumn is to last year when the snowy spell in December came out of nowhere.