Apart from a weeks' cold spell just after mid-month, January was a mild month - the first half of the month was very mild and wet with rain on every day up to the 15th, by which time we had exceeded the average fall for January. The second half of the month was then very dry and after that week of cold weather milder conditions returned.

  By the 15th the mean temperature stood at 3°c above average and we had had 98% of what would be the month's final rainfall total. With rain on every day up to and including the 15th, we had had rain on 31 consecutive days going back to the 16th December - in that time 283.8 mm of rain had fallen. Come the 16th the ground was totally saturated, but then by the months' end it had begun to firm up!

  Only three days during the month saw the maximum temperature attain double digits, thus demonstrating the consistency of the mildness; just nine days saw the maximum temperature fall below average. The cold spell was more a case of 'chilly' than really cold, but it did contain one particularly cold night. During the cold spell a slight cover of snow fell, just 1.5 cms, but which managed to hang around for a good number of days.

  Up to the 15th low pressure (LP) dominated with a succession of depressions bringing wet and mild conditions - it rained every day!

  And did it rain - whilst daily totals were not too excessive, they were consistently high with eight of the days notching up double figures. The wettest period came 10-13th which saw 67.7 mm in the four days, the 10th with 21.9 mm being the month's wettest day and by the 15th the monthly total stood at 151.8 mm; 112.7% of the monthly average in just the first half!

  At the end of this period the ground was totally saturated and it was now very fortunate that the rain relented. The first day of rain during this period went back to the 16th December - rain on every day for an entire month!

  During this first half of the month it was also very mild and by the end of the period the mean temperature was running 3°c above average. Apart from the 3rd it was frostless with night-time minima often above 5°c. Day-time maxima were steadily high although just the three days exceeded 10°c; the 3rd (curiously, following the overnight frost) recording the month's high of 11.3°c, but which saw rain all day from 06h, totalling 18.2 mm.

  The change to colder conditions, and fortunately, also drier, was quite sudden. The area of LP that swept across the UK on the 14th now pulled away to the NE and behind it the pressure gradient slackened with the winds veering to the NW. In the early hours of the 16th an occluded front to the north moved south and brought a spell of light snow; it may have only amounted to a level depth of 1.5 cms (2.54 cms = 1 inch) but it hung about for some time.

  During the 16th to 22nd frosts were recorded every night and day-time maxima varied from 1.5°c (16th) to 5.3°c (20th) and it was certainly much colder. However, it was also sunny and the days could only be described as gorgeous. The frost on the 17th was particularly sharp at -8.5°c (16.7°f), but all apart from this and the 18th remained above -5°c.

  The 16-18th were all 'days of lying snow', that 1.5 cms going a long way indeed and there was still some snow on the ground up to the 22nd.

  From the 23rd through to the months' end it became that bit milder. Not as notable as in the first half of the month, but there was just the one slight frost on the 26th and day-time maxima were consistently above average.

  And it remained dry. With HP still broadly the dominant feature, centred in Biscay and at various times and to various degrees ridging over the UK, any fronts that did pass over the UK were weak affairs and with negligible rainfall.

  MSLP of 1010.3 Mb was -1.8 MB below average for the month and overall a mean minimum of 1.55°c and a mean maximum of 7.00°c saw the temperature 0.99°c above the fourteen year average for this site.

  It was the coldest January since 2021 and since the record began in 2009, four have been warmer and ten have been colder - the highest maximum temperature recorded during the month being 11.3°c (3rd), the lowest minimum -8.5°c (17th).

  Rainfall of 154.1 mm (Maulds Meaburn North 161.4 mm -- Castlehowe Scar 223.5 mm) was 114.4% of average for 2008-22, making it the wettest January since 2016. In a record that commenced in 2008, ten have been drier and five have been wetter.

  During the month the following 'days of' were recorded: Snowfall on two Days -- Snow Laying on three days -- Fog on one day - the wind speed averaged 6.42 mph, with a maximum gust of 54 mph (12+14th).

  We had 9 Air Frosts in the month (year 9)          --          Grass Frosts totalled 15 (year 15).

  The 1 foot soil temp ranged from a low of 2.1°c on the 22nd - 23rd        to      a high of 6.6°c on the 6+8th     --      with a monthly mean of 4.6°c

  The 1 meter soil temp ranged from a low of 5.5°c on the 25th      to      a high of 7.2°c on the 8-9th     --     with a monthly mean of 6.5°c

  At the Met' Office site at Shap a mean minimum of 1.1°c and a mean maximum of 6.7°c saw the monthly mean temperature 0.9°c above average. It was the warmest January since 2020. In a record back to 2005, five have been warmer, twelve colder and one year was the same.

  Rainfall of 308.8 mm represents 132.2% of its average. It was the wettest January since 2016 and in a record that commenced in 1989, 21 have been drier and 13 have been wetter.

  At Appleby in Westmorland rainfall of 93.4 mm represents 100.4% of its average (1857-2022) and made it the wettest since 2021 - in a record that commenced in 1857, 87 have been drier and 79 have been wetter.

  Cumbria Rainfall - With the majority of sites having over 90% of their final monthly rainfall total in the first 14 days of the month, January, just like December was the proverbial month of two halves.

  At Maulds Meaburn that percentage went as high as 98% in that first half of the month and at Seathwaite ten of those first 14 days had more than an inch of rain, five exceeding 50 mm.

  During that first half the wettest period fell during the 10-13th and which resulted in numerous 'Flood Warnings' being issued. In that four day period the usual suspects of Honister, Mickleden and Seathwaite (but not Ennerdale Black Sail!) recorded in excess of 250 mm, the 261.4 mm at Seathwaite being the most.

  The 10th was widely the month's wettest day, a few locations topping 90 mm with the 94.4 mm at Honister the greatest 24Hr fall. For the full story though we must include the rainfall from the 16th December - in the 31 days up to the 15th January Seathwaite saw total rainfall of 921.0 mm.

  To put this into context, only three calendar months have been wetter than this and that is in a record that commenced in 1845!

  Come the 15th the ground was truly saturated, to the point that another wet day would most likely have resulted in flooding - but the second half of the month saw a complete reversal and by the end of the month the ground had significantly firmed up.

  Broadly across the county it still managed to finish wetter than average and when expressed as a percentage, it was wettest through the LDNP and to the south. This saw Brathay with 172.3% of its LTA having the largest percentage fall and a good number of sites in this part of the county exceeded 150%.

  Seathwaite though with 585.4 mm had the greatest total fall with Mickleden just a splash behind.

  Further north into the county and the average falls reduced with a curious little strip along the A66 east of Penrith seeing totals fall below 100% of the LTA. Kirkby Thore with was the driest location in the county with just 74.4 mm (95.8%) and Haresceugh Castle only had 94.7%. But when compared to the rest of the county, and even closer afield, Whinfell Oasis Park with just 73.9% of its LTA (103.2 mm) had the lowest percentage fall - by the time Appleby In Westmorland was reached the total was back to 100%.

  Figures from the Environment Agency's rainfall sites were, (figure in brackets being the monthly average for 1991-2020)   'Data kindly provided by the Hydrometry and Telemetry team of the Environment Agency (Penrith)':

  Kirkby Thore 74.4 mm -- (77.7 mm)

  Haresceugh Castle (Kirkoswald) 86.53 mm -- (91.4 mm)

  Brothers Water 439.85 mm -- (333.4 mm)

  Orton (Shallowford) 261.0 mm -- (184.5 mm [average for 1967-2022]) - making it the wettest since 2016 and since 1967 when the record commenced, 42 have been drier and 14 have been wetter.

  Seathwaite Farm (Borrowdale) 585.4 mm -- (376.3 mm [average for 1845-2022]) - making it the wettest since 2015 and since 1845 when the record commenced, 162 have been drier and 16 have been wetter.