Compiled by Jonathan Dancaster with contributions by John Alston (Alby), Peter Semmence (Howe) and Peter George (Pakenham)

May 2007- was an extremely wet month across our region, a big contrast to the very dry April when large Across Norfolk and Suffolk rainfall totals for May were 90-170mm and several places had their wettest ever May.Alby in north Norfolk recorded 156mm, Howe in south Norfolk 145.75mm and Pakenham in Suffolk 118mm. Pakenham recorded 56mm during the week 7th - 13th making it the wettest week there since August 2002.

The wettest day of the month for most places was the 27th with totals of 25-70mm, including 65.5mm at Alby and 44.5mm at Howe. Despite all the rain, temperatures were above average but sunshine was well below average.
My rainfall total at Calthorpe, north Norfolk was 145.7mm, 367% of the average and was the wettest May on my 19 year record. The total of 57.6mm on the 27th was my wettest ever day for any month it my records. The two day total 27th/28th was 80.1mm and was even higher at nearby Alby with 94mm. It was the coolest May since 2005 but temperatures were still above average - mean 12.2°C, 0.2°C above average. It was the dullest May since my records began with a total of 151.2 hours, 67% of average.
Spring 2007 (March, April and May)the warmest spring on record for the UK.

June 2007- another wet month across our region but itwas extremely wet for parts of Norfolk. Some parts had not just their wettest June on record but their wettest ever month. Rainfall totals in Norfolk were 100-220mm andfor Suffolk 80-120mm. Alby had 155mm, Howe 115mm and Pakenham 81mm. There were two very wet days during the month, 14th and 24th when fronts brought heavy rain, both days had totals of 20-50mm in places. There were also several days with heavy showers and thunderstorms during the month.
The reason why the month was so wet was because the jet stream (a core of high level winds that steer low pressure systems) was much further south than normal; this caused constant areas of low pressure passing us producing heavy rain. Some of these low pressures became slow moving and when fronts stay in one place for a long time you get high rainfall totals which cause flooding, as happened in northern England this June.
By the end of the month some places had combined rainfall totals in May/June of over 300mm which is about half what is expected in an entire year! At Calthorpe it was my wettest ever month in 19 years of records, the total was 182.4mm, 342% of my average, which beats my previous wettest month - October 1993 153.8mm. On the 12th I recorded the heaviest downpour in 19 years of weather observing - a thunderstorm early afternoon gave 23.8mm in 35 minutes with 20mm falling in the first 10 minutes! The 14th was my wettest ever June day with 42.1mm and another wet day on the 24th gave 32.5mm. There were 9 days with thunder which is another June record and to top it off I observed a funnel cloud on the 28th. Temperatures in June were spot on average with a mean of 14.7°C but it was the coldest June since 2001. It was my dullest June on record with a total of 139.7 hours, 67% of average. The month started very dull here in north Norfolk with low cloud and sea fog on 9 of the first 12 days and only 1.9 hours of sunshine between the 5th - 11th!

July 2007 - the rain kept falling but was more showery in nature. Most places, yet again, had above average rainfall but a few places that missed the heaviest showers had average rainfall. Across Norfolk and Suffolk most places had rainfall totals of 70-100mm, with the wettest areas having 100-130mm and the driest 50-70mm. Howe recorded 96mm, Alby 74.5mm and Pakenham 64mm. The wettest days of the month were the 2nd-4th from thundery showers - Howe recorded 22mm on the 3rd, also the 20th when 10-30mm fell in places. The 20th was the day when the deluge hit the southwest midlands causing the flooding during the following days when the rivers Avon, Severn and Upper Thames burst their banks. Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire were worst hit with some places having as much as 100-150mm rainfall in about 24 hours!
At Calthorpe it wasn’t such a wet month as the previous two and my rainfall total was only a little above average - my total was 66.6mm, 109% of average and the wettest since only 2005. There was a big difference in rainfall locally with Buxton only 5 miles away recording 110.6mm. Thunder was heard on 7 days during July. It was a colder than average month the first since August 2006, my mean temperature was 16.2°C, 0.7°C below average, coldest since July 2004. It was another month with below average sunshine; my total was 181.2 hours, 84% of average and dullest since 2005.

August 2007 - the month started dry for a change and this continued for the first two weeks,. It was then unsettled from mid-month until the 24th andended dry. The showery weather mid-month gave variable rainfall across Norfolk and Suffolk; some places had a wet month while some were dry. Rainfall totals ranged from 30mm to 100mm across the region with 88mm at Alby, 60.5mm at Howe and 46mm at Pakenham. The wettest days were the 19th and 22nd with totals of 10-20mm. A few places in Norfolk had totals of 40-45mm from localised heavy thunderstorms on the 19th. Apart from a hot weekend 4th/5th when temperatures reached 28°C, the month was cooler than the average, mainly because the dominant wind direction for the month was north-westerly.
My rainfall total at Calthorpe was 62.3mm, 95% of average and was the driest August since 2005. My wettest day was the 19th with 18.8mm. It was my coldest August since 2005; my mean temperature was 16.1°C, 1.0°C below average. The highest temperature of the summer was reached on the 5th with a high of 28.4°C. My sunshine total was 190.1 hours, 92% of average and it was the sunniest August since 2003.