AFTER the Christmas cold snap, milder air had reached the whole region by early on New Year's Day.

The southerly gale that heralded its arrival blew itself out by mid-morning. Another active front moved east across us on the 2nd giving some heavy rain. After this, pressure built over southern Britain, and further systems became weak.

By the first weekend, we were in a showery, westerly airstream, though with few showers east of the Pennines.

Around the Monday, another frontal system tried to encroach from the south-west. This was beaten back well before it reached us, as high pressure took control over Scandinavia. North-easterlies on its southern flank set in giving a few wintry showers midweek before it became dry. A beautiful, sunny weekend followed, though patchy fog spoilt it for some in low-lying areas. Although cold, it felt quite pleasant with almost calm conditions.

The anticyclone slipped south into the North Sea and barometers rose to indicate "Very Dry", their highest reading since last winter. It was the first time since August that a "high" came close to sitting over us. As it retreated, the airstream picked up increasing amounts of moisture and even colder air moved in aloft.

This combination of events allowed thermals to rise from the sea, setting off showers by Thursday the 18th. These became frequent and fell mostly as snow away from the coastal fringe.

A repeat of the New Year's Eve blizzard threatened on the Sunday as milder air pushed in from the south-west again. However, away from the moors, the snow was only slight. It soon turned to rain anyway, and, with just a fresh breeze, little disruption resulted.

The next two days saw some heavy rain at times, accompanied by strong winds. Then, until the end of the month, mainly dry weather returned with good sunny spells, the final weekend being especially favoured.

Temperatures were below average during the month as a whole - for the first time since July. Despite being only slightly cooler than normal, it was the coldest January for ten years. This is an indication of the mildness of recent winters rather than the cold of this month.

You have to go back to 1987 and 1985 for a distinctly icy January (both about 3C, 5.5F, below the mean). No really notable records were broken this month, though never before in my 18 years of observations here at Carlton, near Stokesley, has the mercury failed to rise above 10C, 50F, in January.

It was quite a dry month, for a welcome change, August being the last one. With about two-thirds the usual rainfall, it was the driest January since the very dry one of 1997. As it was also fairly sunny, overall, once again, for a winter's month, it wasn't at all bad