Not enough rain.....yet.

The heaths around London were tinder dry after weeks without significant rain, but west of London there were 9 or 10mm of rain during Saturday with parts of west Surrey having several millimetres more than that. Unfortunately most of east Surrey and south London had considerably less rain with typical totals 2 or 3 mm. In this part of south London the total rainfall since 1st March is only 21mm, still 19mm short of the 40mm that is needed to prevent Spring 2011 being the driest since before 1900. So, just 24 days left before 'Summer' arrives and will the record be broken. Obviously too early to say yet, and in showery weather totals can increase quickly. However, over the next few days it looks as if showers will be few and far between in this area, and although the further outlook remains generally unsettled, whilst the main area of cyclonic activity stays to the north of Britain, the prospect for substantial rain in south London stays small.