January 2026 Commentary

Although the first week of the year was extremely cold, I am sure that most people's main memory of January will be of the heavy and persistent rainfall.

There was certainly some sleet during that first week but the freezing temperatures didn't last for long and during the rest of the month, it was never particularly cold. However, the wind and rain made it a fairly miserable start to the year weather-wise.

The weather experts tended to blame the large amounts of rain on the cold air mass over North America pushing cyclones regularly in the direction of the British Isles and there were particularly heavy downpours in the village on the 8th, 11th, 15th, 20th and then on the 26th when 63.4 mm. (2.5 inches) fell in 24 hours.

The average temperature for January was 6.4C. which is just above the average over the last ten years, despite the extremely cold first week.

The total month's rainfall was above 300 mm. for only the second time since I began my measurements in 2007. The actual figure of 305 (nearly 12 inches) for this January was only exceeded by the 343.6mm which was recorded for January 2014. The average total precipitation for January over the last decade is 138mm which puts it slightly below the average totals for October, November and December.

There have been problems with localised flooding and sewage outflow this month, while many potholes on local roads have been either created or enlarged. The dam has held back a lake of varying size during the month while the river itself has flowed at considerable speed below the dam and discharge rates have probably been higher than I have ever measured here previously.

Philip Spray