Went out into the country to see the winter solstice sunrise.

Too cold to go down town in the afternoon.

Rather a bleak, cold, grey day.

Told Mr Retford I'd be away on the trip tomorrow - 'Where are you going?' he asked. 'Sevenoaks - well, Oneoak,' I said. He laughed like a drain at this witticism (six of them blew down in the gale on Friday).

A tempest overnight, apparently with gusts over 94 mph. Tree in back garden uprooted, 4 sections of fence missing, trees and walls and fences blown over everywhere. Went for a walk about 8.15 to check the route to school, which was flooded, so had a fag on the playground to make up for the usual visit to the car park. As things seemed to be abating by 10.30 I drove up to school to see what was occurring. Met the headmaster who said he'd phoned local radio to tell 'em school was closed (only 15 people turned up): an apple tree's fallen on the 6th form clubhouse too.

'This month will be remembered ... for the "Great Storm", the so-called hurricane of the night of the 15-16th and the morning of the 16th' [...]

By 5pm the warm and windy pearly-overcast weather of earlier on in the afternoon had got cooler and quieter.

Took the car, owing to my cold and the rain.

October 10th. Think I won't go down the pub tonight. They won't miss me, and it's still raining. Don't fancy getting any wetter.

October 11th. At least it's stopped raining at last. The river is up over the path.

'very wet' [...]

Cold, boring afternoon.

Very clear morning.

Drove to Southend, ahead of a storm, got there before it and sat on the beach in the windy sun watching the waves and thinking about yesterday. Drove home in the pouring rain.

Drove home in the rain.

The sun's shining hotly - the end of the Long Hot Summer.

At 3pm I was bored. Autumn seems to be here - great grey stratocumulus were moving overhead on a cold wind. Later in the afternoon it rained.

Very autumnal, cold and misty today. Autumn's really started with September this year. 'Here comes another winter, of long shadows and high hopes...'

There's a faint Septembery feel in the air already - that slight tinge of cold in the mornings, even though they're bright as or brighter than the summer's.

This is the kind of grey, windy fag-end of summer where nothing happens.

Thunderstorms yesterday evening and early this morning - woken up at 5 am by the latter. Thundered incredibly loud in the afternoon.

August 23rd. It turned out that I couldn't have gone to that party yesterday anyway: because of landslips the railway was blocked.

'Violent thunderstorms broke out on the 21st ... 77 mm at Chigwell Row (Essex) on the 22nd. Flooding in Essex on the 22nd.' [...]

Drove round the country lanes in the heat-haze.

Not a cloud in the sky all day, before 11 pm. Very hot.

Sun for an hour at 10.30am but just as I set out for work in the afternoon it started to piss down with rain - I got there soaked.

Substantial thunderstorm this afternoon - can't have aided Dean's enjoyment of the cricket.

'There were some notable thunderstorms in this period ... 50 mm fell in 20 minutes at Epping on the 29th.' [...]

Hot weather.

Very hot day.

Unpleasantly hot but grey.

June 29th. Abysmally hot.

June 30th. Still hot but not as humid as yesterday. Slow, hot afternoon.

'a hot spell right at the end' [...]

Thundered again (3 days in a row).
'There were some notable thunderstorms in East Anglia' [...]

Got up to find it pissing down with rain.

Interesting weather: raining at 9 am, hot and still at 6pm.

A miserable, cold, drizzly sort of day.

Gloomy sort of day. Typical attack of Sunday melancholy - must be the overcast weather.

At first the morning shrouded in strato-cumulus, but at 11.30 it was hotter, with bright sunlight, a blue sky with a few wisps of cirrus and a cool breeze.

Very hot at lunchtime.

Beautiful Spring weather today - sun, wind, showers. Pity it's a Sunday. But then again no school tomorrow.

Hot and hazy again.

Hot and hazy.

Beautiful Springlike day - leaves, bloom and blossom everywhere.

Cooler than yesterday.

Pristine spring morning: beautiful spring day, warm and sunny.

Beautiful, sunny spring day, and amazing sunny spring afternoon.

6.30pm. Beautiful spring evening, clear up to now but with a touch of haze coming (traditional Spring evening that). Very heartening.

C. let me share her umbrella at lunchtime.

Well windy. Watched cold front pass over.

'It was very stormy on the 27th' [...]

Showery and bright weather-wise - archetypal early Spring.

Cold and cloudy.

Very Spring-like.

Weather not very Springlike.

March 6th. Think I jumped the gun a bit re Spring - it's been well cold and wet this week.

'Extremely cold in the first half, as cold continental air covered the country' [...]

March 7th. Came back in the gathering snow at 10.20pm. A thin layer lying now an hour later. That makes four lots of snow this winter.

'Heavy snow in central regions on the 6th-7th'

March 8th. The snow melted by lunchtime.

Spring today. It rained all morning.

(5.25pm). The clouds are breaking a bit now.

Snow today.

A Saturday in the old tradition - sun, white clouds, freshness.

Most of the clouds disappeared during the day and depression with them.

Cold. Not so optimistic today. I think the February greyness is having its usual depressing effect.

Very mild today - Spring in the air. I noticed the warmth when I went out at 3.45. A combination of heat, smell etc.

8th. Spring in the air again.

25th. Like yesterday, the sky had a hazy spring/summer-like look to it this morning.

Still no sign of the Sun - 11 1/2 days now.

In parts of the south there were 14 consecutive sunless days from the 14th (to the 28th), in many places setting a new "dullness" record [...]

January 28th. The Sun came out today.

January 29th. Strong, bright sun all day, large white cumuli.

Some snow on the ground. Bitterly cold.

Exceptionally cold air from an unusually cold Europe... The coldest air reached England on the 11th [...]

January 12th. Very snowy and cold (appropriately for Caradhras). Only 7 people at registration. Down to 10 F last night here (-12.2 C) - that's cold. Looks like more snow on the way.

'For many places this was the coldest day of the century ... the cold air crossing the warm North Sea led to a very high snowfall on the eastern coast'

January 13th. Snowed all day in frightening amounts. 5 people at registration (all time low). Everyone got sent home at 9.45. School's closed tomorrow. Apparently it's Essex's coldest/worst winter since 1947.

'There was more heavy snow on the 13th and 14th.'

January 14th. At home all day, of course. A highly mature snowball fight (enjoyable). Then to the hill for sledging.

January 15th. Still freezing cold. Stayed in my bedroom and kept warm. No school tomorrow either.

January 16th. Sledging downhill and across the ice on the river.

January 19th. Walked to school in 22 minutes (not bad in snow).

'A slow thaw began on the 20th'