It was a very wet but sunny November in Royston, with temperatures almost 2°C above average.

The main feature of the November weather was undoubtedly the frequent rainfall, and after the very dry September and dry October the last month of Autumn largely compensated for the earlier lack of moisture by turning out to be a very wet month.

Total rainfall in November was 104.4 millimetres, which is 199% of the 30 Year (1971/2000) average. The number of "rain days" (0.2 millimetres or more) was 24 and this was the highest number of rain days in November since at least 1972. On 17 of these days rainfall exceeded 1.0 millimetre. It was the wettest November in Royston since 2000.

The wettest day of the month was 28^th with 14.4 millimetres rainfall. Rainfall duration in November was 74.1 hours.

There was no air frost in November although 2 ground frosts were recorded. This was the first November without air frost since 2003 and the 10^th such November since 1972.

It was the mildest November since 1994 and the 9^th consecutive milder than average month (since February 2009). It was also the 12^th milder than average November in the last 15 years.

The mean daily maximum temperature in the month was 11.6°C, which is 1.9°C above the 30 Year (1976/2005) average. The mean night minimum temperature was 1.8°C above average at 6.7°C.

The highest daily maximum temperature in November was 16.2°C on 1^st, whilst the lowest daily maximum temperature was 5.7°C on 30^th. The lowest night minimum temperature was 1.5°C on 10^th, with the highest night minimum temperature of 12.2°C occurring on both 19^th and 20^th. The lowest grass minimum temperature in the month was –2.5°C on 9^th.

The mean earth temperature at 30 cms depth as observed at 0900 GMT daily was 9.6°C. The highest earth temperature was 12.2°C on 1^st and the lowest 7.5°C on 30^th.

November this year maintained its trend of being sunnier than average in recent years and the total sunshine of 93.3 hours was 137% of the 1971/2000 average. However, it was the sunniest November since 2007 only.

The sunniest day of the month was 7^th with 8.0 hours bright sunshine, whilst only 2 days (18^th and 24^th) in the month were completely sunless. Sunshine exceeded 7 hours on two other days (2^nd and 15^th).

November was rather windy at times although no really damaging gusts were recorded. The mean wind speed of 9.3 mph was the highest for any month so far this year. The maximum wind gust registered was 50 mph on 25^th.

The highest daily (00/00 GMT) mean wind speed was 17.8 mph on 18^th and the lowest daily mean wind speed was 1.9 mph on 11^th.

Winds from the S and SW dominated the month as shown in the following analysis of wind directions as observed at 0900 GMT daily: NORTH 1 day, NE 1, E 0, SE 3, S 10, SW 11, W 4, NW 0 and CALM 0.

The mean MSL air pressure in November was very low at 1000.2 mB, which is 15 mB below the 30 Year (1976/2005) average. The highest and lowest air pressure values recorded in November were 1019.8 mB and 982.0 mB on 9^th and 3^rd respectively.

The mean relative humidity in the month was 84.0%. The highest daily (00/00 GMT) mean relative humidity was 92.9% on 9^th, and the lowest daily mean was 74.8% on 19^th. The absolute lowest relative humidity reading in November was 61% at 1315 GMT on 25^th.

Fog (visibility < 1000 metres @ 0900 GMT) was observed on just 1 day (9^th) in November.

AUTUMN (September/November) 2009: It was the mildest Autumn since 2006, and the 3^rd mildest Autumn since 1972 (after 2006 and 2005). It was the driest Autumn since 2007 only.

The mean daily maximum temperature in Autumn was 15.7°C, which is 1.3°C above average. The mean night minimum temperature was 1.0°C above average at 8.9°C. Total rainfall in Autumn was 143.9 millimetres, which is 86% of average. Total sunshine was 6% above average at 344.3 hours.

Met. Observer, Royston (Iceni) Weather Station

5^th December 2009