A record-breaking year for rainfall at Berwick weather station
Water pouring out of saturated fields near Coldingham
RAINFALL records in Berwick were shattered in 2012, with more than 1,000mm recorded at the Letham Shank weather station.
The total figure of 1,057.5mm - almost one-third of which fell during the summer months of June and July - comfortably beat the previous highest figure of 912.6mm recorded in 2002.
The record-breaking year for precipitation was almost 40 per cent higher than the long-term Berwick average of 657.6mm.
The driest year on record was 2007 when there were just 433.7mm of rain.
John Cranston, who farms Letham Shank, said: “The wet weather has had a very big impact on yields which, across the area, are probably down at least three tonnes per hectare.
“The fields have been full to capacity more or less since September and that is a big concern if the situation stays this way.
“A lot of the early crops are struggling already because of a lack of oxygen in the soil and unless it dries out soon there will be more and more plant losses. The ground is totally saturated.”
Ironically, the first three months of the year were extremely dry with early season tourists enjoying the best conditions.
However, the deluge started in April and continued through the whole summer with only brief respites for events such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and Olympic torch celebrations.
Events such as Spittal Gala and Glendale Show were not so fortunate. Almost 400mm of rain fell over the three summer months.
The highest temperature last year, of 22.7deg C, was recorded on September 3.
The lowest temperature was -5.1deg C, recorded on January 17, while the wettest day was July 7 when 47.6mm rain fell and the sunniest day was May 26 when there was 17.8 hours worth of sunshine.
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Weather for Berwick-Upon-Tweed
Tuesday 18 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: West
