Cold in the morning, bright and clear by lunchtime.

Venus and the very New Moon were very close this evening, about 3 Moon diameters, with Jupiter not far off.

Dark and gloomy in the morning, but by lunchtime the Sun had come out; was quite dazzled and exhilarated going outside.

Cold and clear in the morning. Cold at work too, cos the storage heaters'd been switched off over the weekend.

Anticyclonic winter weather, very bright, turned cold later.

Very bright full moon, partly because it was so high in the sky. Really was almost as bright as daylight.

Very nice anticyclonic winter weather.

Ugly weather in the morning, Kate kindly phoned and offered me a lift to work.

December 1997

Mild and windy, big shower clouds.

December 9th. Mild and windy again, quite nice actually.

December 10th. Rather variable weather; dark and drizzly in the morning, bright and clear at lunchtime, cloudy again in the evening.

'Mild, wet, and changeable' [...]

December 16th. Very cold, very dark - leaden clouds like in The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - and same time of year. In fact extraordinarily dark. Snow at lunchtime (small flakes) came to nothing. Fiendishly cold on the way home. Barometer was 1028 mb this morning, 1008 mb now. Might explain that powerful East wind!

December 17th. Weather as cold and dark as yesterday with snow in the morning.

'Quite dull in the east and north..'

December 19th. Rained again in the morning, got wet.

December 21st. Dismal grey afternoon, completely transformed by the prospect of Christmas.

'..the week before Christmas was the dullest of the year.'

December 24th. Cycled home through vast winds and pouring rain. Cycled to the pub dead against the wind, as slow as walking. Left at 1am, cycled back with the wind in 6 minutes.

'The Christmas Eve Storm was probably the worst since December 1993, possibly since the 1990 Burns Day Storm... Heavy rain'

Even colder, so wore my new hat.

Weather the same again.

Very cold, but dry.

Got up to a covering of snow. Nice with the Christmas decorations just up. Snowed all morning but didn't stick.

Weather very cold.

Very dark about 2.30 pm, brightened up a bit later.

Foggy start.

Went to Sainsbury's; coming back, the Sun emerged from the edge of a westward-travelling storm and filled the rainy air with light. The Sun being rather low, a vast rainbow slowly appeared in the West; I could see across the countryside to where the end met the horizon. The sunlight was reflecting off the wet concrete in a great golden blur and adding an unusual angle of light to the scene. The gloom, meteorological and psychological, of the past few days was quite dispelled by these glorious sights.

Not quite so dark, more cold-front type black clouds/blue sky contrasts.

Again, cold and bright.

Cold and bright again.

Cold and bright.

Very windy in the morning.

Cold, damp, windy.

November 5th. Heavy showers, hail.

November 6th. Weather damp and breezy again.

November 7th. Windy and damp again.

November 9th. Lots of wind and rain in the morning.

November 14th. Sunlit fog in the morning, rain later.

November 15th. Gloomy, wet, dark day.

'There was a notable late warm spell from the 15-18th'

November 17th. Mild, damp, dark, horrible.

November 18th. Same again. 'Strordinarily dark, even at 2 pm.

November 19th. Same again, only more so. Very dark at 2pm again.

November 23rd. Cold, bleak, late autumn afternoon - with Advent Sunday next week, the last of the non-Christmassy year-end weather.

November 25th. Bleak, grey, cold, dark.

November 27th. Raining hard in the morning. Got soaked getting into town. Really dark at 2pm, as if a massive storm was coming.

November 28th. Raining even harder this morning.

November 29th. Beautiful weather in the morning. Can't decide whether it would've been better to have it yesterday, so I wouldn't've got wet, or whether it was nice to have it for the weekend.

'generally wet, and rather dull' [...]

Thick fog in the morning, gradually cleared to another golden afternoon.

Lovely weather again.

Weather nasty again in the morning, but clearing to a golden evening by about 4.30pm.

Rotten weather in the morning - heavy damp grey overcast, drizzle.

Rained all afternoon. Enjoyed watching the traffic splash past.

Last night's stormy weather had blown itself out in the morning - cool, clear, sunny, still a bit of wind.

Very windy in the night and morning, slowed me down drastically on my way in. First coat-wearing day of the winter. In the evening rain: rain on window-panes always an evocative sound, especially at night.

Very wet day, fortunately not raining on my way to work in the morning. General feeling of autumn and winter coming on. Wind got up during the day.

Cold and bright in the morning, but clouded over, and rained heavily in the evening.

Very autumnal all of a sudden. Lovely weather though, very warm.

October 2nd. Beautiful weather again.

October 4th. Beautiful Indian summer weather, like 1988 sitting outside the block.

'Indian summer continued from September... 26.0 recorded on the 1st at Shoeburyness - the highest reading this late since 1985' [...]

October 13th. Much colder, quite wintry. Sharp showers.

October 14th. Cold, North wind again.

October 15th. Not quite so cold.

'It became colder briefly midmonth, before warming up again on the 15th.'

October 19th. Beautiful weather all day, lovely golden afternoon.

'The weekend of 18-19th was particularly warm'

October 20th. Dull and rainy morning, but cold, not the sort of misty moisty stuff we had on Thursday.

October 21st. Cold again, but bright.

October 22nd. Lovely, if cold, autumn weather.

'It became much colder on the 20th'

October 25th. Beautiful weather again, cold.

October 28th. Bright and very cold all day.

October 29th. Weather as yesterday, but even colder.

October 30th. Beautiful frosty morning.

October 31st. Flawless clear, cold weather.

'widespread and severe frosts in the last week'

Gloomy, damp start, but warm, hazy and peaceful later.

Damp, dark, dull, dim gloomy morning.

Went for a run in the rain.

In the evening watched the lunar eclipse, where I could see it between the clouds anyway. Always interesting to see the Earth's shadow - you won't see it anywhere else. It's nice, as a stargazer, to see some evidence of the thing you're standing on for a change

Good weather, if cool.

Colder again. At lunchtime got caught in a heavy shower.

Colder today.

Nice weather again, cold in the morning though.

Beautiful weather, like the very, very end of Summer.

Beautiful weather for seeing off D.S..

Gloomy, wet morning, but weather improved rapidly after I cycled in, and became a beautiful late summer/early autumn day.

Good star visibility later, saw the Andromeda Galaxy for the first time.

Lovely weather - autumnal edge though.

Bright, showery weather. Mood better.

Quite a vigorous thunderstorm about 6.30am, and again at midday. And I was just thinking yesterday that Summer was more or less over with hardly a rumble. Certainly the weather's turned this week: yesterday there were fallen leaves swirling about while I drove along the A140, it's been cooler since before that, and tonight it's definitely windy, which it hasn't been for a long time.

Hot and humid, got cloudier, lots of thunder in the afternoon, short heavy shower later.

Hottest day of the year so far, I reckon. Almost too hot to stroll around at lunchtime.

August 5th. Beautiful weather.

August 7th. Hottest day of the year so far, I reckon. Almost too hot to stroll around at lunchtime.

August 8th. Even hotter than yesterday.

August 9th. Well, hotter still.

August 10th. Very hot again. Temperature in the evening causing me to sweat just from writing.

August 11th. Hottest so far. Yesterday officially the hottest day of the year.

August 12th. Not quite so hot during the day thanks to a certain amount of breeze and clouds, a solidish shower in the morning and a brief one in the evening.

August 13th. Impressive thunder last night - good about 1.30 am, woken up by an enormous bang at 4.30 which set off car alarms etc. Everything very damp and green in the morning, all the puddles very big (as in childhood days after similar weather).

August 14th. Still hot, but much fresher. Very pleasant high summer ambience in the morning.

August 15th. Spent two hours lying awake; looked out at 4.15 and saw dawn approaching, and Castor, Pollux and Orion striding above the East. Could not quite see Sirius, which would've literally confirmed the dog-days weather we've been having, but was excited by the appearance of Orion, which signifies autumn afar off.

August 18th. Heat at work seems to get worse every day - particularly today with humidity.

August 19th. I swear the weather gets hotter and more humid every day. Most unpleasant today.

August 20th. Well, hotter still.

August 21st. Hotter again, but for the last time I think. Gradually greyed over in the afternoon, was obviously going to rain, and it did rain a bit and certainly cooled down.

August 22nd. Cooler and cloudier today. At last! Much better mood too.

'The second hottest on record (after 1995), and the hottest for Eastern England.' [...]

Wet and comparatively cold, and windy.

Hot and bright again, but windy.

Surely the hottest day so far this year?

Very hot.

Windier in the morning, a bit spring-like.

Very hot.

Bit of an autumnal chill in the morning, soon wore off.

Cold, rainy, windy. Weather improved in the evening - enough to see the nearly-Full Moon and, just now, Venus.

Same as yesterday, plus rain. Cooler too.

Grey and gloomy weather, mood to match, especially about 9 am. Cheered up later though.

Weather the same grey start/hot later pattern as before.

Unpleasantly grey and humid in the morning.

Low cloud in the morning burnt away about 11.30 and it got hot, but not as hot as yesterday.

It was hot last night - had to resort to a cold-water-bottle. Even hotter today, and spotlessly clear, except for a few cumulus cells in the morning. Nice clear night tonight with New Moon.

Very hot today, after a very hot night. The wind got up a bit late in the afternoon and cooled things down a little.

Very hot, uncomfortably so.

Unusual weather: started off white and dull but got hot quickly with medium-sized cumulus.

Came home in the warm cloudy night.

Hot and hazy.

Still unpleasantly hot.

June 1997

Thunder overnight (apparently). Overcast, hot and humid in the morning. Poured with rain and got very dark from 9.45 to about 11am.

June 13th. Raining heavily in the morning, took the umbrella.

June 19th. Rained most of the day.

June 20th. Greyed over gradually, and at lunchtime began to rain heavily - continued till 6.30pm at least.

June 21st. Cycled back through wet black streets, with evening glow lingering in the sky even at 10.30.

June 22nd. Rained most of the day.

June 23rd. Raining again in the morning.

June 25th. Rain again.

June 26th. Still more rain. I think I might start building an ark. It's rained every day since the 19th - 8 days, exceptional in my opinion. Those ducks that were on the lawn a couple of weeks back returned this evening, with 8 ducklings.

June 27th. Rain again - heavy at lunchtime with the drains in the High St backing up, and water pouring out of the storm drains into the river.

June 28th. Mowed the lawn, which hasn't half grown with all the rain.

'The wettest June of the century' [...]

Hot again.

Calculated that a cumulus cloud at 2,000 ft crossing the sky from 7½° W elevation to 7½° E elevation only travels 1½ miles.

Went shower-chasing - 'black rain-brooms' sweeping the countryside to the North-west.

Same heat and humidity as yesterday, except the wind went round to the South-west at lunchtime.

Hot and windy - peculiar, unpleasant sort of weather. It started to rain at 5pm, got wet on my way home. Very warm and humid. Noticed that the water in all the puddles was yellow: suspected continental pollution borne on the East wind we've been having for at least a week, but on realising that the washing on the line was still clean, deduced that the rain had washed yellow boulder clay dust into the puddles, the amount of dust due to the length of time since it last rained.

Another day that started grey and then brightened up. Hot later.

Weather clear but very windy, rather unusual.

June 2nd. Weather hot, but very windy again. Strange.

Drove to Southend and walked to the end of the pier. It was hot and sort of dreamlike out there, I pretended I was on a ship.

Beautiful weather in the morning. Hot and grey in the evening.

Rather cold and grey today.

Got rained on at lunchtime and on the way home - heavy rain about 4.15 pm.

Warm again but cloudier, tried to rain at lunchtime.

Weather was warm, damp and misty when I set out at 9.30, with only the lower halves of pylons visible; while I was on the A12 the sun burnt through and it got very hot by 10am.

Very hot and damp in the morning after a thundery night. When the sun burnt through about lunchtime, it got hotter still. Wouldn't be surprised if we had some real thunder tonight.

Hazier sunshine in the morning, turned grey and humid later.

Quite hot today, went without my coat.

Warmer today.

Showers again.

Beautiful weather - sun, wind, huge white cumuli.

Cold again, sun and showers.

May 8th. Lots of showers today. Walked home in heavy straight-falling rain, very pleasant with the trees in full leaf.

May 9th. Strolled home in between showers.

Beautiful weather for the election, calm, sunny, almost cloudless.

May 2nd. Wandered round in a daze at lunchtime, partly lack of sleep, partly the sun blazing down out of a cloudless sky, mostly political amazement.

'A warm spell at the beginning'

May 5th. Weather windy and cloudy with rain ite, pressure dropped to 987 mb.

'and then a cold snap straight after...'

May 6th. Cold and windy; rain, hail, snow, but brightened up about 4.30.

'Some snow as far south as...' [...]

Beautiful day, very warm. Rather like the weather for the last election.

Beautiful day, very warm. Rather like the weather for the last election.

Windy all day with squally rain in the afternoon.

Rained gently all day.

Grey and damp-smelling in the morning; began to rain gently later, carried on all day and all evening. Trees and grass looking much better for it.

'[April was] very dry across much of the country... Some places had no rain until the 25th.' [...]

Much colder today, and too cloudy for stargazing in the evening.

Change in the weather in the morning - brisk N. breeze, little round clouds. Quite cold and grey in the afternoon.

Great weather again, quite hot.

Weather fine yet again.

Yes, great weather again.

Beautiful weather again - wish there were different words to use to keep describing it.

Weather had gone back to being beautiful - lovely walk to work in the morning.

Weather not so nice today, rather cloudy.

Weather even more beautiful again.

Beautiful weather again.

Beautiful calm evening btw, with a balloon floating past.

Weather rather cold, and not as nice as yesterday.

Beautiful weather - cool and sunny with strong N.W. wind. It being perfect drying weather, did a load of washing. In the evening went out and looked at Comet Hale-Bopp - very clear, massive tail.

Windy today.

Some heavy rain.

Nice spring-type showery sunny walk to work, with a rainbow.

Very cold and misty in the evening - could've been winter.

March 1997

Soft, foggy morning, though there was obviously bright sun above it.

'Some dense fogs led to major motorway pile-ups: e.g. on the 10th four people killed early in the morning on the M42.' [...]

This mood wore off as the sun came out - by lunchtime it was warm, hazy and pleasant.

March 11th. Very cold and misty in the evening - could've been winter.

March 12th. It was a very warm day btw, the first day it's felt warm this year.

March 13th. Warm weather again.

March 17th. Heard at 1pm that John Major'd been to see the Queen. May 1st - that's when the election is. Been waiting for that for a while. Lovely weather, really Spring-like and warm.

March 18th. Sun was actually out on the way home, golden and lovely. Went out later to look for Comet Hale-Bopp, eventually got a fine view from the back garden. First comet I've seen properly, and just like a comet should look. Well worth seeing.

March 20th. Beautiful weather today.

March 21st. Even more beautiful weather.

March 22nd. The beautiful weather continues.

March 24th. Curiously damp, cool, cloudy and pleasant in the morning.

March 25th. Very warm in the afternoon.

March 27th. Damp and pleasant again in the morning, got clear and hot later.

'March was very warm' [...]

March 31st. Beautiful weather again. What a great long weekend it's been.

'It was the sunniest Easter since the war' [...]

Beautiful sunny weather, for a change.

Damp and rainy again, the ducks down the river seemed to be enjoying it when I walked past. Sun broke through about 11am and it turned bright and breezy.

Damp, humid, misty day, quite warm.

Lovely morning, warm and spring-like with a cool breeze.

Last day of winter - felt like it too, warm, damp and fresh.

Back via the A414, pleasant orange late winter sunset lighting up the plain.

Spring-like touch in the air today and yesterday. Quite encouraging.

Tentative signs of cumulus today - the first this year. I've often noticed their absence in January.

Weather damp and windy.

February 6th. Weather windy again.

February 7th. Very dark and rainy about 11am.

February 10th. Windy and rainy, clearing cold-frontishly in the afternoon.

February 11th. Walked home through the rain.

February 12th. Strong wind and heavy rain in the morning, got soaked on my way in.

February 13th. Got soaked again, very cold and unpleasant. Weather got bright and windy about dinnertime though.

February 14th. Stepping outside the front door in the morning, felt something was missing - realised it was the rain and wind.

February 15th. Beautiful weather.

February 16th. Wind, rain, hangover.

February 17th. Wind and rain again.

February 18th. Violent squalls at 7am, beautiful and clear at eight. Strong sunshine at lunchtime.

February 19th. Stormy afternoon and evening - strong winds, heavy rain.

February 24th. Very windy.

February 25th. Squally post-cold-front weather again.

February 26th. More showers - this weather doesn't half go on.

February 27th. No rain today, at last.

'Windy... Generally wet' [...]

Bright frosty morning.

Clear at 5.30, but as I walked home fog appeared out of nowhere, and got very thick in about 5 minutes. Strange. When I went out again in the car at 6.30 the fog was so thick that I had to proceed carefully.

Weather warmer than recently, sunny too.

The fog came down again very thickly in the afternoon, and on the way home I could barely see 50 yards.

Six below zero and three o'clock in the afternoon

Not half cold this evening. -7 C; and it was -6 C yesterday afternoon at 3pm. I haven't known cold like it for a long time.

January 2nd. At 6.30am it was -8 C and perfectly clear.

January 4th. Bit more snow in the evening, 1/2 inch, if that. Everything nice and white though.

January 5th. Grey clouds speeding from the East.

January 7th. Fine snow in the afternoon.

January 9th. Fresh snow in the morning, about an inch or a bit more.

January 10th. Walked to town in that sort of post-snow quiet.

It was very cold in the first ten days... Some places in the south did not rise above -3C on the 1st and 2nd... The first 100 hours of the month in the south were a continual frost. [...]

January 11th. On the way back the thaw had begun, slush everywhere and water dripping.

'Thaw on the 11th'