WHAT a month! After a notable absence of extreme temperatures since the spring, the start and end of November couldn’t have been more contrasting, with records tumbling everywhere.

The month began very mild, with temperatures soaring as high as 17C (63F) in a few places on the 4th, including Whitby. My colleague Peter Wallace, who runs the Met Office station, registered their warmest November day for 60 years.

Three weeks later, the mercury plummeted. Early on the 28th, Peter measured -8.7C (16F), the coldest for any November in the logs there, which go back to 1937. The lowest temperature in the region that I know of was observed by Paul Hignett, D&S Times forecaster, at Pickering, - 12.9C (9F).

Values during the first six days averaged over 3C (5.5F) above normal but, in the final week, sank to about 9C (16F) below.

Even around noon, they struggled to achieve 0C (32F). The spell was almost as severe as we can get during any January, like the one this year.

Temperatures over the month in the North-East were 1.5-2C (3-4F) under the mean. This made it the coldest November since 1985, which, it’s hard to imagine, was twice as chilly, but it lacked any significant warm interludes.

To add to our agony, there was generally double the usual rain.

The Dales received the majority of theirs in the initial fortnight but, for the east, it came during the last ten days. For many, it was the wettest November since the exceptionally damp one in 2000.

Then, after a very soggy October, there were two or three deluges that triggered widespread flooding. This month’s rain was shared between many days but, with much falling as snow in the final week, there’s a lot of water “locked up”, lying on the ground. Hopefully, we won’t have a rapid thaw.

The snow arrived about the time expected for the first sprinkling of winter. However, amounts were unprecedented this year. At Carlton, near Stokesley, roughly 60cm fell in total, though the depth, as it packed down, reached just 34cm (13½ins). This was twice that for the previous snowiest November in my 28 years of data, 1993, and was only surpassed in February 1991, when it peaked at 43cm (16½ins).

What caused all the snow? Simply, the wind direction and its source. Air from the Arctic or Siberia was transported to us via Scandinavia or northern Europe. The North Sea warmed it considerably, believe it or not, but this produced vigorous thermals and supplied plenty of moisture. So, abundant snow showers were generated.

November’s figures at Carlton in Cleveland:

Mean max: 7.2C, 45F (-2.1C, -3.8F) Mean min: 1.9C, 35.5F (-2.0C, - 3.5F)

Highest max: 16.1C, 61F, 4th

Lowest min: -10C, 14F, 28th

Total rainfall: 130mm, 5.1ins (+60mm, 2.4ins)

Wettest day: 15mm, 0.6ins, 27th

No of rain days, with 0.2mm (0.01ins) or more: 25 (+8)

(Figures in brackets show the difference from the 27-year mean, 1983-2009)