UK’s wettest city the place it has rained each single day this 12 months with extra to return
The parish of Cardinham, Cornwall, has experienced its dampest year on record and it has poured down for 41 consecutive days
Mandy Worrall in Cardinham(Image: William Dax / SWNS)
Folk living in the UK’s wettest town – where it has rained every day of the year – say they’re getting a little fed-up with the bad weather.
The parish of Cardinham, in Cornwall, has experienced its dampest year on record. It has poured down for 41 consecutive days. The town has experienced floods and road closures – in an area often offering Britain’s best weather.
Forecasters at the Met Office has said Cardinham was one of three places in the UK that had 40 days of rain in a row. The other two are North Wyke in Devon and Astwood Bank in Worcestershire.
But Cardinham tops them in terms of the volume of rain with 366mm. Cornwall has had its wettest January on record. Despite the rain – and more on Wednesday (February 11) – locals are still upbeat and hopeful for a sunny day soon.
Jimmy Bradley, who has lived in Cardinham since 1995, said he’d “never seen” rain like this before. He said “It’s been pretty miserable. We’ve got two kids and a dog, so we’ve been dragging ourselves outside for half an hour every day to walk the dog, and getting absolutely drenched.
“I work up on the moors – everything has been flooded. The roads have been flooded; the rivers have burst their banks. It’s been tough getting anywhere – pretty unprecedented.
“It’s the longest sustained heavy rainfall that I can remember. There hasn’t been a day since the start of the year that it hasn’t rained at least once. I can’t wait – my hobby is mountain biking, and it’s been pretty hard to ride – I’m pretty keen to get out in the woods again, and the kids are keen to get to the park.”
Local primary school head teacher Matt Larcombe said that the weather had caused a “tricky” situation for the school, stating: “We like to be outside. Being stuck indoors for hours on end is tricky and for learning it makes it really really hard.
“Obviously the weather has put an end to being outside sometimes, and we have to think really carefully and be really thoughtful on how we can do that well.”
Chief forecaster Neil Armstrong said: “The past few weeks have felt relentlessly wet, with repeated bands of rain sweeping in from the Atlantic and creating increasingly saturated ground across large parts of the UK. This persistent unsettled pattern has been driven by a strong, south-shifted jet stream steering low pressure systems directly towards the UK.
“Cold plunges of air across North America have strengthened the temperature gradient across the northwest Atlantic, energising the jet, while a blocking high over northern Europe has prevented weather fronts from clearing, causing them to stall over the UK. The result has been continuous waves of rain, strong winds, and hill snow in parts of Scotland.
“Daily rainfall records have also fallen, with Plymouth, Hurn and Dunkeswell all experiencing their wettest January day in several decades and now, some areas have already seen their average February rainfall in just eight days.”
Thankfully for residents, the Met Office has predicted that Saturday will bring an end to the showers and have forecasted a bright, warm day – until rain begins again the following week.
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