Wettest Winter in a Century

[Pauline]

We live in Dorset on the south coast of England. It has been raining since Christmas. Last winter was unusually dry, this winter the opposite. Our 30 minute drive to Dorchester, our county town, is now 50 minutes because of permanent flooding on the A35 in one spot. There is no way around it so they put up traffic lights and we take turns driving through the less-deep part. Fields everywhere are flooded.

After one big storm a friend who lives north of Dorset could not get to southern Dorset because all the towns you could drive through were flooded. My Ocado delivery driver said all the back lanes are flooded.

UK weather: Areas of UK hit by record January rainfall

Anyone thinking it had been a particularly drab and wet January, that has been confirmed by the Met Office's latest monthly figures, as Chris Fawkes explains.

www.bbc.co.uk

Last week we spent 3 nights in the New Forest and had two dryish days and one very wet day. (I booked the trip a few weeks ago thinking the rain would have stopped by then. It hadn’t.) We drove through very deep flooded roads to get to Christchurch. Everyone took turns driving on the sidewalk to avoid the water. The day we left we went on a causeway across the river where the water on each side was almost a road level, then flooded over the road in several spots.

Even in the rain the New Forest was outstanding and we will go back this summer.

It feels like spring is on the way, temps are mild, days getting longer. But you can’t walk in the fields yet - too wet. What will summer bring?

We stayed in the white building, 3 holiday cottages in a converted school building.

Tomb detail. Look at those claws!

River and full flood plains.

 

[Eleanor]

The family and dog are just back from a week in the Cotswolds. It's not a very big dog but everywhere was so wet that the mud came up to the underside of the dog's belly.

 

[Pauline]

When we lived in the Cotswolds we hiked through the winter and I remember amazing amounts of mud. Now we walk on lanes or into town in the winter. Looking forward to things drying out!

 

[rollingwheels]

What feels different now is how often these unusually wet seasons seem to cluster, which many people link to shifting weather patterns and a more energetic storm track. Either way, it definitely highlights how disruptive prolonged rainfall can be for infrastructure and daily life.

 

[Pauline]

We are into a more normal spring now. Daffs are out, magnolia trees in bloom, some sunny days. And the days are much longer. Next up: lambs in the fields!

 

[Eleanor]

Things are well on here in Lincolnshire with the forsythia and flowering current in full bloom. I've had to cut the grass twice already this year...