THE past month was mild, but with plenty of rain. In some parts of the South and West it was the wettest November on record. Here, it was the soggiest for only two years, with generally about one-and-a-half times the normal rainfall.

Over our region, November 2000 was one of the wettest months ever, with two-thirds as much rain again as this year's. Then, with a good portion of the rain falling early in that month and following an extremely wet October, there was the infamous, extensive floods, for many the worst in living memory. This year, the start of the autumn was relatively dry and as the downpours were well distributed throughout November, watercourses just about coped with the resulting flow.

The last three weeks of October were very unsettled, with a regular procession of depressions running in from the Atlantic every other day or so. Most of these had tracked over or near to the south of Britain. Consequently, we had remained in the colder air on their northern flanks.

This changeable type continued right through November too, but with the lows now largely being diverted northwards to the west of the British Isles. Around the middle of the first week, the main centre retreated as far away as Iceland, as high pressure nudged briefly near to southern Britain. Mostly, they were too close for comfort.

The frontal systems associated with the depressions moved across us from time to time, producing periods of rain with showers in between. The majority of the fronts were quite active and although there were no exceptional falls in our area, the frequent, substantial amounts added up.

Additionally, the lows were not so regular in their trips across the ocean as in October. A couple of times, a deep one simply milled around to the west of Britain for a few days before its replacement arrived. The showery intervals between the frontal rains were therefore extended on these occasions. Since at this time of the year showers are inclined to dwindle over the land, these interludes were mainly dry, sunny and pleasant, at least away from the Pennines.

With the depressions situated chiefly to our west, winds from a southerly quarter dominated virtually the entire month - and they were often brisk. Consequently, it was mild, especially during the first five days, which were warmer than most in October.

Usually around mid-November, we tend to get a taste of winter and one of Buchan's cold spells occurs during the second week. Mr Buchan was an eminent nineteenth century Scottish meteorologist, who noticed that warm and cold periods are likely to happen at certain times of the year. These definitely cannot be relied upon, as, after all, he observed them in Scotland and more than 150 years ago. I believe we sometimes have a cold snap a bit later, with our first, widespread snow about the 20th of November.

This year, it was cooler, briefly, about mid-month, as one of the lows transferred over to the North Sea, causing the wind to veer into the north-west. However, it was never very cold and there was hardly a sign of winter this month. Here at Carlton, near Stokesley, I didn't record a single air frost, though there were several touches on the ground. There wasn't any snow either, except on the tops of the highest hills, fleetingly, once or twice.

The only wintry feature in November was the fog at the start and end of the final week. With plenty of moisture lying about and the air mass over us saturated, it formed readily when the breeze fell calm and skies cleared. It persisted for a couple of days, both times, particularly in those parts that are prone to it, for example, in the Vale of York.

After a fairly dry September, the autumn ended up quite wet with about 25pc more rain than average. It was marginally on the mild side despite a cool October.

NOVEMBER TEMPERATURES & RAINFALL

at CARLTON IN CLEVELAND

Mean max: 9.9C, 50F (+0.8C, +1.4F)

Mean min: 5.1C, 41F (+1.2C, +2.2F)

Highest max: 14.2C, 57.5F, 5th

Lowest min: 0.5C, 33F, 18th

Total rainfall: 105mm, 4.2ins (+33mm, +1.3ins)

Wettest day: 20mm, 0.8ins, 16th

No of rain days, with 0.2mm (0.01ins) or more: 19 (+2)

(Figures in brackets show the difference from the 20-year mean, 1983-2002