Torrential rain heralds start of winter in Huddersfield

Nov 3 2009 By Neil Atkinson

WRAP up for a cold and wet autumn and winter.

That was the message today from Huddersfield weatherman Paul Stevens as the warmest October for years ended in a deluge.

Almost 1½ inches of rain fell in just eight hours on Sunday morning – the first day of November – which was equivalent of one third of the average monthly rainfall.

And yesterday, temperatures dropped to just 8 deg°C, considerably lower than the temperatures over the latter half of October.

Stevens said: “We can say ‘Goodbye’ to summer and the teeshirts.

“From now on in, it’s going to be cold and wet and windy”.

Mr Stevens said his readings showed that Huddersfield had just enjoyed its warmest October since 1981.

“Temperatures last week averaged 16deg°C, compared to the monthly average of about 11 or 12°deg, and we certainly had the last surge of summer.

“But that was all swept away at the weekend when the Atlantic depression hit, followed by a cold trough.

“There was a tremendous amount of rainfall (42mm) between 1am and 9am on Sunday, which was the equivalent of a third of the monthly rainfall falling on the first day of the month.