ALTHOUGH warm and with several very pleasant days, September could not really be described as a summer month this year. Last year's was a definite extension of the season. Neither was it autumnal: it was wet and perhaps on the cloudy side but, with only a hint, once or twice, of the coming season.

It was the second warmest in my 18 years of observations here at Carlton, near Stokesley, but still appreciably cooler than last year's record-breaking month, by 2C (3.5F). In keeping with the recent trend to milder autumns and colder springs, we have not had a cool September for six years.

It was also milder than both June and July, so continuing to make up for the poor start to the summer. However, it is not unusual for June to be cooler than September; nights are normally slightly warmer during the later month.

The month was changeable throughout, with rain on many days, particularly in the second half. The number of days with measurable rain was the most I've counted in September. Amounts were often small, though the 15th, 17th and 19th all produced large falls. There was local flooding on the last of these, once again notably in east Cleveland, which for the third time since the beginning of the summer, was the worst affected part of the region.

Total rainfall was about 50pc more than the mean. It was the wettest since September 1995, which was one of my wettest of any month, with over 1 times the accumulation we had last month.

With low pressure situated mainly to the west of Britain, winds blew largely from a south to south-westerly direction, hence the general mildness. Occasionally, a depression did cross the country allowing winds to swing briefly into the north. The longest such spell, which was at the start of the month, lasted a couple of days.

After this, when the breeze dropped out, the first widespread ground frost of the autumn occurred around dawn on the 4th. This was rather early in the year for such an event, but we are yet to have another.

On the 15th, a low moved east over southern Britain. We had some outbreaks of heavy rain but not the drenching that the South had, causing widespread flooding. Some places had their average month's rainfall in less than a day.

This was nothing compared to the cloudburst experienced in Palermo in Sicily around the 9th and 10th which resulted in devastating, flash floods: 350mm (14in) fell in 42 hours, including 112mm (4.5in) in six hours, representing no less than seven times the normal September rainfall, or half our annual total.