The above verse may be from Coleridge's 'Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner' but by word, it wasn't half appropriate during February.

  It was GRIM - easily the wettest February (++) of the 13 now recorded here and it also became the 2nd wettest of any month in my records - that beats the 317.2 mm from November 2009 and is only second to December 2015 (Storm Desmond)!

  It was wet, very wet - Appleby was under water, we had our own flooding in Maulds Meaburn and surrounding villages and then with the burst water main caused by 'Storm Ciara' we had no water for a few days!

  With lashings of rain that provided for both the second and third wettest days in my records, several named storms, saturated ground, virtually permanent grey skies with little sunshine and strong winds, February 2020 will be long remembered, but one that we would rather forget.

  After a quietish start to the month, the conditions turned on the 8th and the rest of the month would be constantly unsettled with two further named storms 'Dennis and Jorge'. Whilst the month would also be much warmer than average, it still managed to have the occasional wintry feel, 10-13th and 23rd - 27th, during which we actually saw some snow laying on the ground, but not much.

  And like January, it was slightly bizarre that the month finished with such a high mean temperature as it rarely felt that mild and which, like January, saw only one day scrape into double figures.

  And wasn't it windy - the month finishing with a mean wind speed of 14.1 Mph, this being a new record for this site and easily surpassing the old record of 12.9 Mph from December 2015.

  MSLP of 1002.1 Mb was -11.8 Mb below the local average for the month and overall a mean minimum of 1.94°c and a mean maximum of 7.25°c saw the temperature 0.93°c above the eleven year average for this site.

  It was the coldest since 2018 and of the twelve now recorded, seven have been colder and four have been warmer - the highest maximum temperature recorded being 10.1°c (9th), the lowest minimum -1.2°c (7th).

  Rainfall of 343.4 mm (Crosby Ravensworth School 428.6 mm - Castlehowe Scar 498.5 mm) was 387.6% of average for 2008-19 and made it the wettest February and the second wettest of any month in my records (thirteen years).

  During the month the following was recorded: snow fell on 10 days (10-14th, 20th, 23-24th, 26-27th and 29th) with two of those days (13th and 24th) being a 'day of laying snow'. Hail fell on six days (10-11th, 16th, 22nd, 25th and 29th) and four days recorded an inch or more of rain. Gusts of wind exceeding 50 mph were recorded on nine days, with a 'gale' recorded once (9th) - the maximum gust being 60 mph (16th).

  At the Met' Office site at Newton Rigg, rainfall of 251.0 mm (337.8%) was the wettest recorded in a series back to 1900 (1 year in which data is missing) and the fourth wettest of any month in the same period.

  A mean temperature of 4.85°c is the coldest since 2018 and in a series back to 1954, 52 have been colder, 13 have been warmer and one was the same.

  Across the board rainfall percentages were well above average in the county and typically around 350%, a few areas venturing above 400%.

  (++) February was record breaking across Cumbria, the most notable breaking of the record coming at Seathwaite - The wettest location in Cumbria during February was Honister with 967.0 mm of rain and which included three days with falls in excess of 100 mm. To add context to that fall, this is the equivalent of 1.31 inches of rain falling every day!

  Seathwaite's total of 929.8 mm (36.57 inches) beat its record of 776.0 mm from 1848 – this was quite possibly one of the longest standing records in the UK - Newton Rigg beat its record of 239.1 mm from 1990 and at Appleby the total was 243.5 mm (beating 228.5 mm from 1997).

  However, far more pertinent is the fact that the 929.8 mm at Seathwaite represents only the fourth time, in what is a 175 year record, that 900 mm has been surpassed - Even more pertinently is the fact that the other three occasions are from very recent years:

  911.0 mm October 2008 - 969.0 mm November 2009 - 966.6 mm December 2015.

  Whilst February 2020 has been the third wettest of any month at both Seathwaite and Appleby, at Newton Rigg it was the fourth, but curiously, when expressed as a mean daily fall, February 2020 at Seathwaite was wetter than December 2015 by 0.98 mm.

  Figures from the Environment Agency’s rainfall sites were, (figure in brackets being the monthly average for 1961-90)   ‘Data kindly provided by the Hydrometry and Telemetry team of the Environment Agency (Penrith)’:

  Kirkby Thore ** mm (48.7 mm)

  Haresceugh Castle (Kirkoswald) 168.79 mm (56.6 mm)

  Brothers Water 742.18 mm (192 mm) and

  Orton (Shallowford) 469.8 mm (139.3 mm [average for 1967-2019])

  929.8 mm at Seathwaite Farm (Borrowdale - 272 mm [average for 1981-2010]).

  ** not available due to faults with the gauge

  General Synoptic Report for the Month

   Low pressure (LP) was over or near to the UK for the first four days of the month in which time rainfall amounts were small. High pressure (HP) in the Atlantic and over Spain then built from the 4th and the next few days were settled and dry, the 5-7th having slight air frosts and some sunshine.

  The 8th started fine but a deep area of LP was building out in the Atlantic and so would start a prolonged period a very wet and unsettled weather - 'Storm Ciara' was about to arrive.

  Travelling across the Atlantic on a vigorous jet stream, the first rain associated with Ciara arrived at tea-time on the 8th, that rain soon becoming heavy with a very wet and windy night to follow. Rain totalling 89.6 mm (3.527") would make the 8th the second wettest day in my records. That 89.6 mm represented 101.1% of the monthly average for February!

  Other rainfall totals included: Seathwaite 118.6 mm, Honister 156.0 mm, Brothers Water 123.47 mm and at Appleby it was 65.5 mm.

  It should be stressed that 'Storm Desmond' back in December 2015 was a two day event whilst 'Ciara' was a relatively short event and after a short period of rain in the morning of the 9th, it gave way to showers. However, the damage was done and the village was under water and for a short period, effectively cut-off. 'Ciara' wasn't quite done though. The centre was to the west of Scotland and as it moved north we then experienced the strength of its wind on its southern flank. The afternoon saw gale force winds, just maintaining a 10 minute average of 39 Mph between 1440-50 Hrs with a maximum gust of 57 Mph.

  The strength of the wind would remain a key feature for the next few days with a strong westerly following on from 'Ciara'. Gusts over 50 Mph were recorded on the 10-11th and we now had something very slightly wintry. In that W'ly, showers were to the fore and some of those contained snow and hail, through to the 13th. Day-time temperatures took a dip to either side of 5°c, but it was much too windy for frosts, albeit, it was still cool at night.

  A vigorous LP system moving up from the south overnight into the 13th would see us wake to a slight cover of very, very wet snow and it would hang about just long and deep enough to be the first 'Day of Laying Snow' this winter.

  And now it would be the turn of 'Dennis' - which, unlike the other named storms during the month, people did at least know how to pronounce!