"Saturday 14th February from 4.00 p.m. gmt. 'Brown' rain fell across a wide area of North West England including Chester [4.00 p.m.] and Alderley Edge location 53.24 N 2.44 W. This rain left a fine deposit of very fine brown sand on everything but was most noticeable on cars. We understand that this was due to the recent 'high' over south west Europe and the wind direction which has brought warm air up from the Sahara Desert in North Africa together with sand
The temperature in North West England has been spectacularly warm for Winter - we seem to have been in a permanent state of 'Autumn' or Early Spring'. There a new buds on the trees bursting to produce leaves and it is only mid-February. There has only been snow on a handful of days - some heavy, but it melted away quickly. The temperature in my office today is 25C with humidity of 31% and the windows are wide open! I am located 16 miles South of Manchester UK - which has a reputation for being a rainy city, but which has become the driest city in Europe in the last 6 years!"--Judith Gregory <bbfa@bbfa.org.uk>