January Rains

We Brits have a well-known obsession with the weather.

And examples of a wet January (like this one seems to be!) can be found in many old newspapers.

The Rainfall

The County Observer and Monmouthshire Advertiser shows us that the obsession with rainfall and the British weather goes back over a century - on 3rd January, 1906, the paper reported that three inches of rain had fallen over the previous 15 days, with 1'8 inches being the monthly average.

The Barry Herald a few years earlier - on 3rd March, 1904 - reported that the January of that year had been wet also (probably not a big surprise.)

The paper reports 4'97 inches of rain for the January of 1904, with an average for the previous 15 years of  2'49 inches for January.

The Flooding

The South Wales Daily News of 22nd January 1877, tells of flooding in the Trent Valley and Lincolnshire.

The same paper, on 22nd January 1895, reports 'STREETS TURNED TO RUSHING RIVERS,' with widespread flooding in Clwyd, Conway, Buckingham, Tamworth, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick, Kidderminster, and Maidenhead.

Meanwhile, according to the Evening Express of 1st January 1901, Tewkesbury had been cut off completely by flooding - essentially becoming an island, and the 'Eastern Counties' were 'Under Water.'