It used to be the case, and might indeed still be so, that secondary school Geography lessons included instruction about the five main air masses that influence the British climate.

For any readers with that educational background, the statement that Polar Maritime air prevailed in November will make perfect sense.

The start of the month saw a very deep Atlantic depression cross the British Isles, a mild sou’wester raising the temperature in Wellington to 15.5C (60F) on November 1, before the onset of overnight rain and gales. For the next week generally lighter winds prevailed, coming from points between west and north, bringing showers or longer spells of rain, but also reasonable amounts of sunshine. Temperatures were about the seasonal norm. Typical Polar Maritime weather, in fact, associated with a jet stream following a fairly southerly track.

November 8 was a sunny day, but with the air now coming from the north it was chilly, and that night Wellington had its first proper frost of the autumn, with a minimum of minus 2.6C (27.3F). The next day began on a grim note, with several hours of quite heavy rain on a cold east wind. After lunch the wind veered abruptly to the west, skies brightened and it then remained dry until after the Remembrance Day service in Wellington Park on Sunday, November 10.

Approaching mid-month, no indication of any settled weather was on the horizon. November 11 and 12 continued the theme of sunshine and showers, and though November 13 began bright, heavy rain arrived in the afternoon with sleet on the Brendon Hills. An ‘Arctic’ element in the air stream was now definitely over us, the temperature next day struggling to only 5C (41F) in Wellington, with a frost to follow under clearing night skies. Cold, damp but fairly calm conditions then characterised the next four days, with some welcome relief on November 18. This was by far the sunniest day of the month and the first completely dry day for three weeks.

At this stage, the month’s rainfall total in this area was still below average. The situation changed emphatically as a depression tracked slowly across France into the Low Countries, giving us a spell of rain that began about noon on November 21 and didn’t really clear up for 48 hours. By that time, it was definitely a wet month, with almost 60mm (2.4 inches) being added in the space of a week.

In the closing days of autumn, we benefited from slightly milder south-westerly winds, giving bright spells, temperatures above normal both by night and day, and a pleasantly warm maximum of 13C (55F) on November 26. The last two days were rain-free but cooler, the air once more being of Polar origin.

In the context of exceptional rainfall amounts and widespread flooding in other parts of the UK, it is interesting to note that in our area November ranked only 18th wettest in the past 60 years, with a total rainfall of 137mm (5.4 inches), 25 per cent above average. The autumn as a whole was the eighth wettest in the same period, including 56 days with measurable rainfall since the weather ‘broke’ on September 21. The mean temperature of 6.8C (44.2F) was slightly below normal, as was the amount of sunshine received.

Simon Ratsey

WWN weather correspondent