A DRIER than usual December brought an end to the driest year recorded by scientists at Huddersfield University.
Their records began in 1990.
In 2003, 560.7mm of rain fell in Kirklees. The annual average is 816.7mm.
The hottest day of the year was on Saturday, August 9, which boasted an average temperature of 25.2ºC (77.3ºF). The sdame day saw a peak of 33.5ºC (92.3ºF).
The coldest snap of 2003 was on New Year's Day with an average temperature of -3.9ºC (24.9ºF). The lowest temperature recorded that day was -7.9ºC (17.7 ºF).
At 5.03ºC, December's mean temperature was slightly above the monthly average of 4.89ºC.
The warmest day of last month was Friday the 12th, which reached an average of 10.5 ºC.
A high of 13.2ºC was also recorded that day.
The coldest day last month was Tuesday the 30th with an average temperature of -2.4ºC and a low point of -4.9ºC. Temperatures fell below zero on 12 days of December.
It was drier than average, with 75.8mm of rain compared to an average of 102.87mm.
Ten days of December stayed dry.
The mean wind speed for the month was 4.39km/hr, below the average 5.54km/hr.
The highest gust recorded for the month was 34.2km/hr on Saturday the 13th.
Prevailing wind direction for the month was southwest.
