Record rainfall, a lost summer, homes flooded, then chaos in the snow. It’s been a crazy year. But 12 months ago, things were very, VERY different
Cast your mind back just a few weeks to the morning after the night before. It’s the 1st of January 2013, and despite a fantastic evening at the village hall, I’m not nursing the sort of hangover that has brokered the start of many a year in the past. What’s more I’m up early and full of optimism, because when I look out of my kitchen window I’m greeted with a view I’ve come to adore, yet have hardly seen of late. Stretching out before me is the rolling landscape of Herefordshire. The sky above is a pale wintery blue, there isn’t a cloud to be seen and as a result 2013 has started well. It’s not raining.
We were exploring the drought, an expert walked me through a dried up riverbed. They were looking ahead to rescue fish
Ends of year are the sort of milestones that statisticians love and accountants hate. It’s a chance to gather the facts and figures into tables and graphs, except this time the numbers are being crunched by a jolly bunch who’ve had a truly bumper year: the weathermen. We now know that 2012 was the wettest year on record. But rewind 12 months, and you’d never have thought it.
