Chronology

This chapter deals with extreme events and spells of weather in Oxford, some of them before the Radcliffe Observatory was built, but mostly based on the weather observations since 1767. Events such as heat waves, cold spells, severe gales, floods, droughts, snowfall and even the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999 are included. The chapter concludes with coverage of the most recent year, 2018, with its exceptionally hot summer. The description includes more descriptive coverage of some specific events, including the day in July 1862 when Lewis Carroll took Alice Liddell and her sisters boating on the River Thames, a day out which led directly to him writing Alice in Wonderland.

Summer

Chapter 22 provides a detailed analysis of the long weather record at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford for summer. Averages and extremes of temperature, precipitation and sunshine are presented, with coverage relevant to the month or season including the incidence of snowfall, thunderstorms, gales and the like, illustrated by contemporary accounts and photography. Each chapter ends with a complete time series of the mean temperature, total precipitation and total sunshine for the month or season from the entire record, updated to 2018.

Spring

Chapter 21 provides a detailed analysis of the long weather record at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford for spring. Averages and extremes of temperature, precipitation and sunshine are presented, with coverage relevant to the month or season including the incidence of snowfall, thunderstorms, gales and the like, illustrated by contemporary accounts and photography. Each chapter ends with a complete time series of the mean temperature, total precipitation and total sunshine for the month or season from the entire record, updated to 2018.

October

Chapter 16 provides a detailed analysis of the long weather record at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford for October. Averages and extremes of temperature, precipitation and sunshine are presented, with coverage relevant to the month or season including the incidence of snowfall, thunderstorms, gales and the like, illustrated by contemporary accounts and photography. Each chapter ends with a complete time series of the mean temperature, total precipitation and total sunshine for the month or season from the entire record, updated to 2018.

June

Chapter 12 provides a detailed analysis of the long weather record at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford for June. Averages and extremes of temperature, precipitation and sunshine are presented, with coverage relevant to the month or season including the incidence of snowfall, thunderstorms, gales and the like, illustrated by contemporary accounts and photography. Each chapter ends with a complete time series of the mean temperature, total precipitation and total sunshine for the month or season from the entire record, updated to 2018.

The annual cycle

This chapter sets out the basis of the annual cycle of weather at Oxford, which is then considered in more detail in the individual monthly and seasonal chapters which follow. Averages for the current standard period of 1981–2010 are used throughout the book to compare with previous data.

Notable heatwaves and cold spells, sunny and dull periods, in Oxford since 1815

This chapter sets out the extremes of temperature and sunshine, here considering longer multi-day ‘spells’ such as the longest heatwaves and cold spells, on the long record from the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, fully updated to 2018.

July

Chapter 13 provides a detailed analysis of the long weather record at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford for July. Averages and extremes of temperature, precipitation and sunshine are presented, with coverage relevant to the month or season including the incidence of snowfall, thunderstorms, gales and the like, illustrated by contemporary accounts and photography. Each chapter ends with a complete time series of the mean temperature, total precipitation and total sunshine for the month or season from the entire record, updated to 2018.

April

Chapter 10 provides a detailed analysis of the long weather record at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford for April. Averages and extremes of temperature, precipitation and sunshine are presented, with coverage relevant to the month or season including the incidence of snowfall, thunderstorms, gales and the like, illustrated by contemporary accounts and photography. Each chapter ends with a complete time series of the mean temperature, total precipitation and total sunshine for the month or season from the entire record, updated to 2018.

Oxford’s ‘top ten’ extremes

This chapter sets out the extremes of temperature, precipitation and snow depth, sunshine, considering both daily values as well as monthly means on the long record from the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, fully updated to 2018.