The Driest County (Again)

~ beetleypete

Ever since I began this blog, I have posted about the absurdity of Norfolk claiming to be the driest county in England. Days of rain running into weeks, this was all I experienced when I first moved here, and it lasted for over two years. With some irony, my original post ‘The driest county in England’ is still the most-read post here, proving that many people are searching for the elusive lack of rainfall somewhere in this country.

It got so bad at times, that our shed flooded, due to ground water overflowing. I had to buy waterproofs to walk the dog, and days on end were spent watching and listening to relentless torrential rain, that I firmly believed would never stop. For the first two years, summer was counted in a few days of fine weather, followed by yet more weeks of downpours. There was no longer any mention of hosepipe bans, or bathing with a friend. The local river burst its banks regularly, and the nearby lanes were awash with water running unchecked from the fields.

However, since Christmas, things seem to have changed. It has been remarkably dry. On the regional news, they are talking of farmers crying out for rain, and the possibility of water shortages, if the summer is hot. Save for some occasional showers, and a few hail-storms, the rain of the last few years seems to have deserted us. Of course, I hesitate to type this, as no doubt the rain-gods will soon repay me with the wettest summer known to man. But I have to admit, with some trepidation, that we are in the middle of a remarkably dry spell in Norfolk. Long may it continue.

23 thoughts on “The Driest County (Again)”

  2. Hot, hot Metro Manila. It’s been a scorcher the past several days, in the afternoon though, it is always cloudy. And we had thunderstorm two days ago.

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  4. Last time I went to Norfolk – on holiday – it rained. A lot. But that was a very long time ago. When I first came to the SW (having lived most of my life in Oxfordshire) I couldn’t believe how much it rained here. In particular, it was the number of times the rain produced the same sort of effect as having buckets of water thrown over you. Most of the rain we had in Oxfordshire seemed rather pathetic in comparison. But it’s been dry here, too, for the past 3 weeks. Unusually so. And I suspect it’s been the same over most of the country. As you say, it makes a nice change after some of the wettest years on record.

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    1. It is a continuation of posts that I have written about the claim that Norfolk is the driest county in England. They continue to state this, and provide rainfall records that appear to prove this fact. However, the reality of living here for the past three years has been more rain than dry days.
      The SW does have a lot of rain, but when the sun does shine, it’s generally warmer that we find it here.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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        1. We have desert bighorn sheep that come down to Hemenway Park in Boulder City, Nevada, much to the delight of tourists. Since the herd usually number around 60 or so, the authorities might not miss a couple if you wished to sneak a few to Poland.

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  7. Did someone mention rain? It’s that wet spherical stuff, right?
    According to Wikipedia, “virga” is an observable streak or shaft of precipitation that falls from a cloud but evaporates or sublimes before reaching the ground. That’s what we mostly get here in the Desert Southwest.

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      1. True – that used to annoy me when I was working, there are some advantages to being an old fart – plus places are much quieter during the week šŸ™‚

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  9. Pete, it sounds like your having lovely weather over there., it’s been raining for for 4 days, and they are calling for the next 3 days of snow… I about fell out of my chair when I checked the weather site for our area.. oh well indoor gardening is alive and well and at least there are no slugs indoors.. wink…

    Take care and enjoy the dry weather across the pond.. from Laura ~

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