DECEMBER was yet another very wet month, the ninth on the trot this year. Fortunately, we missed the worst of several deluges that other parts of the country suffered.

However, even in our area, with the ground absolutely saturated, it didn’t take much rain to cause occasional minor flooding.

Although quantities weren’t that great, they were appreciable on most days, particularly from the 14th, and added up to about one and a half times the average across the region. There was a bit more up in the Dales, where, for two or three spots, it was the wettest December for 50 years.

For the first fortnight, winds were mainly light and from a northerly quarter. It was relatively dry but chilly, around 3C (5F) below normal. There were wintry showers, largely in the east, with snow lying on a few days, up to 10cms (4ins) deep, chiefly on the hills.

Even so, there were some lovely sunny days and sunshine amounts threatened to exceed those in June. Considering that there is three times more daylight then, this would have been an amazing feat. It wasn’t quite achieved in the end, but it really shows just how miserable June was.

Thursday the 13th was one of the coldest days in recent Decembers, similar to a couple we had in the extremely bitter winter two years ago.

Fog lingered all day in many places and the temperature remained sub-zero. At Carlton, near Stokesley, the highest, until late in the evening, was -3.6C (25.5F).

Overnight, warmer air spread in from the west, with thickening cloud. This produced freezing drizzle early on the Friday, giving some treacherous, icy surfaces. By 9am, the mercury had risen well above 0C (32F), so conditions soon improved.

This marked a change in our weather as low pressure took control again and depressions crossed Britain now and then, as they’ve done since April. With mainly south-westerly winds, often strong, it became mostly mild, misty, dull, and inevitably, wet. This regime continued for the rest of the month.

Overall, temperatures in December averaged about 0.5C (1F) below the mean. This was 1C (2F) cooler than last year but an incredible 5C (9F) warmer than in 2010, the coldest December for at least three decades.