No, It Was Not an Unusually Wet Winter

The Met Office claims the winter was "among the wettest on record" but the data tell a different story

After three months of apocalyptic media stories, flood warnings and amber alerts, you would be excused for thinking we have just had the wettest winter in the UK since Noah slipped anchor. Even now the Met Office is describing it as “among the wettest on record”.

But the Met Office numbers tell a different story. In reality, it turns out to have been no different to many other winters in the past.

Over the country as a whole, it was only the 20th wettest on record since 1836. As always, some parts have been wetter than others.

Weeks on end of bitter, polar air over much of the US pushed the jetstream far south of its usual track, while at the same time firing it up. As a result, storms have homed in on the southern half of Britain rather than further north. But even then, no region broke any rainfall records, nor even came close.