Like September, October was another fairly quiet month, but it still managed to provide a few days of notable weather!

  'Storm Callum' on the 12-13th became a notable rainfall event that saw roads under water and impassable, but fortunately the flood waters stopped at the doorstep and did not venture further. Had it not been for Callum, which accounted for 70.1% of the month's rainfall, it would have been a dry month.

  The days became generally dry after Callum until the final few days of the month saw a plunge of Arctic air bring several cold, but fairly sunny days. This saw two quite severe frosts and the lowest October temperatures yet recorded at this site.

  Despite the third wettest 48hr period in my records, with an inch of rain falling on consecutive days and my coldest October temperatures, it was an uneventful month with there being not a single 'day of ...'. However, the number of frosts (7 air frosts and 12 ground frosts) was the most yet recorded in October.

  MSLP of 1017.7 Mb was +6.8 Mb above the local average for October with pressure generally high throughout the month apart from Callum and then for the last two days.

  Overall a mean minimum of 4.55°c and a mean maximum of 12.85°c saw the temperature 0.4°c below the 1981-2010 average. It was the coldest since 2012 and of the ten now recorded, two have been colder and seven warmer. The highest maximum temperature recorded was 22.4°c (10th), the lowest minimum -5.3°c (30th).

  Rainfall of 129.6 mm (Crosby Ravensworth School 143.0 mm  -  Castlehowe Scar 186.8 mm  -  Reagill 123.2 mm) was 113.3% of average for 2007-17 and made it the wettest October since 2014. Of the twelve now recorded, eight have been drier and three have been wetter.

  At the Met' Office site at Newton Rigg, rainfall of 106.8 mm (99.9%) was the wettest since 2014 and in a series back to 1900 (data missing in one year), October has been drier in 69 years and wetter in 48 years.

  A mean temperature of 9.04°c is the coldest since 2012 and in a series back to 1951, October has been warmer on 39 occasions, colder 27 times and with 1 year having the same mean temperature.

  Locally, rainfall percentages were very close to average. They tended to teeter just onto the low side of average and at the majority of sites it was simply down to the rainfall of the 4th and 12-13th that got the total to somewhere approaching average. Curiously during the Storm Callum event, Brothers Water recorded a slightly greater total to that of Seathwaite.

  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 (65.8 mm)

  Haresceugh Castle (Kirkoswald) 91.89 mm (101.0 mm)

  Brothers Water 280.44 mm (276 mm) and

  Orton (Shallowford) 148.0 mm (161.9 mm [average for 1967-2017])

  380.0 mm at Seathwaite Farm (Borrowdale - 389 mm [average for 1981-2010]).

  ** not yet available

  1st - 10th    The general theme through the period was one of high pressure (HP) sat just to the south of the UK, occasionally ridging in over the UK, but which was also, occasionally, squeezed further south by frontal systems associated to low pressure (LP) systems passing over the top of the HP - all in all, with no pattern becoming dominant it became a mixed bag that included a couple of frosts and ended with a balmy summers-like day.

  On the 1st the HP held just enough short lived influence to clear the skies for awhile overnight to give an air frost, but then the day itself became cloudy as a frontal system approached over the top of the HP. That was repeated on the 7th which saw another air frost, but in between the weather was slightly cooler than average with the best of any sun reserved for the 2nd and afternoon of the 6th. The 4th was the wettest day of the period which saw HP quickly giving way to a cold front approaching from the NW. A drab day followed with further rain overnight into the 5th to give 14.3 mm.

  Quieter and cooler 6-8th with the HP out in the Atlantic holding a greater influence. That HP would slowly migrate east into Europe 8-10th bringing about a notable and dramatic change to the weather. As the HP moved east, LP took its place in the Atlantic thus creating a squeeze on the pressure gradient and introducing a brisk SW'ly flow. Then as the HP moved further east and left the UK at its western edge, the winds backed southerly and drew up a very mild airflow.

  The 10th was a remarkable day - not a cloud to be seen and the temperature just went up and up, reaching the crazy heights of 22.4°c (72.3°f) - not the warmest October day recorded here, but certainly the latest autumn day in my records to attain 20°c.