How the driest September on record made East Anglia the wettest place in England

  • Anglia
The Causeway at Godmanchester in Cambridgeshire. Credit: Geoff Coleman

Even during a dry September there has to be a wettest place in the country. And for England that place was East Anglia. Despite having only one third of the usual September rainfall, that still made the region the wettest part of England.

According to provisional Met Office figures there was 18.7 mm of rain during in East Anglia during September 2014 representing just 35% of the average from 1981-2010. There have been only ten drier Septembers in the region since 1910.

Across the UK as a whole there was an average of 22.1 mm of rain, which was just 23% of average. That made it the driest September on record but only just beating September 1959 with 23.8 mm.

Among the wettest places in the Anglia region was Cavendish in Suffolk but two-thirds of all the month’s rain came on just one day with 31 mm falling in the 24-hours ending at 10am on 19 September.

Across the region there were only 4 days with more than 1 mm of rain when 8 days is nearer the norm.

Despite the dry conditions overall there were some localised torrential downpours that brought flooding to parts of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex on 19/20 September.

A few remaining blooms in a sunflower field near Hawkedon near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Credit: Rosie

Regional rainfall totals in September 2014

  • 45.4 mm in Cavendish, Suffolk

  • 26.6 mm in Writtle, Essex

  • 25.4 mm in Santon Downham, Suffolk

  • 23.0 mm in Cambridge

  • 22.2 mm in Wattisham, Suffolk

  • 21.4 mm at Monks Wood near Sawtry, Cambs

  • 20.4 mm in Hitchin, Hertfordshire

  • 19.4 mm at Houghton Hall, Norfolk

  • 18.8 mm at Andrewsfield near Braintree, Essex

  • 18.8 mm in Capel St Mary, Suffolk

  • 16.0 mm at Broom’s Barn near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

  • 15.0 mm in Norwich

  • 14.6 mm in Harpenden, Herts

  • 13.6 mm in Charsfield, Suffolk

  • 13.4 mm in Chedburgh, Suffolk

  • 13.1 mm in Buxton, Norfolk

  • 12.6 mm in Marham, Norfolk

  • 12.2 mm in Weybourne, Norfolk

  • 12.0 mm in Shoeburyness, Essex

  • 10.8 mm in Stowe, Buckinghamshire

  • 10.6 mm in Cromer, Norfolk

  • 10.2 mm in Northampton

  • 9.1 mm in Little Paxton, Cambs

  • 9.8 mm in Wittering, Cambs

  • 7.2 mm in Bedford

  • 6.0 mm in Woburn, Bedfordshire

  • 6.0 mm in Holbeach, Lincs

A misty sunset at Whissonsett near Fakenham in Norfolk. Credit: Christine Burton

Your pictures of the supermoon on 9 September

It was also a very warm September with temperatures 1°C above normal. Day time maxima in the Anglia region averaged around 20°C while the night time lows were around 11°C. It was the warmest September for three years but still there have only been ten other warmer Septembers since Met Office records started in East Anglia in 1910.

There have been a number of mild Septembers in recent years with 2000, 2005, 2006 and 2011 all being warmer than 2014.

Despite the warmest and arid nature of the weather it wasn’t particularly sunny during September 2014. The region had only 93% of the normal sunshine. It amounted to about 4¼ hours of sunshine per day on average instead of 4¾ which is nearer normal for September.

Heybridge Basin near Maldon, Essex at sunset, just before heavy rain Credit: Catherine Elliott

Picture gallery: Clear conditions overnight on 11 September meant a rare glimpse of the Northern Lights on the north coast of Norfolk

  • Hottest place in the Anglia region: Cavendish, Suffolk with a maximum temperature of 26.2°C on 18 September

  • Coldest place in the Anglia region: Santon Downham, Suffolk with a minimum temperature of 2.0°C on 8 September