WINTER returned early last month but only for a few days. The remainder of February was much like all the preceding autumn and winter months - chiefly very mild and on the wet side but, thankfully, not so windy apart from the final two days.

Average temperatures from the 5th until the 10th were lower by about 5C (9F) during the day and 7C (13F) at night when compared to the rest of the month. This was about 4C (7F) below the mean but, with most of February equally above, taken as a whole, levels were well over the norm again. It was generally the warmest February since 2002.

The first five days were dry but, overall, there were more days than usual with measurable rain. To the north of the North York Moors, there were no large amounts on any day and rainfall added up to near normal. Elsewhere, there were a couple of significant falls, notably on the 10th, helping rainfall to exceed 150pc of the expected quantity in one or two places.

The high, which gave the mild, dry interlude at the end of January, remained stationary in mid-Atlantic for a few more days, maintaining the fine weather. It was remarkably sunny and we enjoyed almost the anticipated monthly ration of sunshine in the first eight days but, with clear skies also at night, there was widespread frost.

With the anticyclone close by, the barometer achieved 1041mb (30.75ins) on the 3rd, which was the highest in February for six years. Following my note in my previous column on the lowest recorded atmospheric pressures, I've been asked: "How high do highs get?"

The greatest I've measured is 1048mb (30.95ins) on January 26, 1992, when much of Northern England experienced a 50-year peak. The record for the UK is 1054mb (31.1ins) at Aberdeen on January 31, 1902, and for the world, the most reliable figure is a staggering 1084mb (32ins) at Agata, Siberia, on December 31, 1968.

The anticyclone weakened quickly around Sunday the 4th as another built and took over near Iceland. The northerlies on its eastern flank brought a plunge of Arctic air across the country. The North-East escaped the worst of the snow in this cold snap because the breeze stayed mainly light and to the west of north. There was widely only a sprinkling on two or three mornings. The mercury, too, did not drop particularly low, with night frosts continuing to be quite moderate.

We were then back to a south-westerly regime, which persisted into March. Fronts passed by every other day or so. To the east of the Pennines, they were relatively inactive, so rainfall, although occasionally prolonged, was rarely heavy.

Between them, there were a few showers and some pleasant sunny periods. There was largely no more than a brisk breeze, except during the final two days when a vigorous depression darted across the far North.

There were two further spells of more northerly winds as pressure rose briefly behind fronts as they moved south-eastwards. These were during the week-end of the 17th and 18th and a week later on the Sunday. Both times lasted less than a couple of days and with the airstreams originating not far to the north, temperatures fell little, keeping above the norm.

With both December and January being among the warmest on record and February trying hard to be too, not surprisingly the winter was very mild. Typically for our region, it was the third warmest in the past 25 years after that of 1988-9, when the mean temperature was about 0.5C (1F) higher, and 1997-8.

Rainfall during the season in the east was only slightly more than average and it was the wettest winter for just three years. However, up in the Dales, there was half as much again as usual and it was the wettest since 1994-5.

February temperatures and rainfall at Carlton in Cleveland:

Mean max 8.6C, 47.5F (+1.6C, +3F)

Mean min 2.4C, 36.5F (+1.1C, +2F)

Highest max 13.0C, 55.5F, 3rd

Lowest min -3.6C, 25.5F, 6th

Total rainfall 50mm, 2.0ins (-2mm, -0.1ins)

Wettest day 8mm, 0.35ins, 10th

No of rain days, with 0.2mm (0.01ins) or more 18 (+4)

(Figures in brackets show the difference from the 23-year mean, 1984-2006)