Product Description

A complete guide to the record-breaking weather in the British Isles, written by The Times weather correspondent This book is the first to bring together all the extreme weather events recorded Since Records Began!from the wettest day ever recorded (279mm in Dorset in 1955) to the coldest ever (intriguingly the same temperature 100 years apart in 1895 and 1995). But it is not only the extremes that are interesting: each season in itself is equally fascinating (the warmest winter being particularly relevant in these days of climate change). The book is subdivided into the four seasons, with details of every record within that season, so you will be able to find the warmest January Since Records Began!(1916) along with details of the second warmest (2008). If you ever wondered why Selsey Bill has had the highest number of tornados in the UK and why they occur in the summer, or where the deadliest avalanche happened, this is the book to tell you. Since Records Began is required reading for everyone in Britain -- otherwise, you'll have nothing to talk about!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110193 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

About the Author
Paul Simons is one of the UK's leading writers on the weather. He has a daily column in The Times and also writes for the Guardian.

Customer Reviews

Snowballing bandwagons
No one would accuse Simons of being a stylist. Observe the steady drizzle of cliche ('The disaster sent shock waves through the public. The Bridge had been opened only for 18 months, and was seen as a triumph of Victorian engineering'). Marvel as he mixes his metaphors ('But the white Christmas bandwagon snowballed and the icy charms of A Christmas Carol struck a chord with the Victorians, nostalgic for the past...'). Shiver at the redundancies ('By 1779 Britain was almost on the verge of bankruptcy...'). He can keep this up for pages, the prose equivalent of a wet November.

But the style is not the only annoying feature of the book. Although marketed as 'a complete guide to record-breaking weather in the British Isles', there is no index or indeed any other reliable way of locating information about the wettest day or the biggest hail-stones.

Nor does Simons acknowledge any of his sources, so there is no way of checking up on the information, or reading further into the subject. Numerous typos and missing words also betray the speed and lack of care with which the book has been assembled.

The subject matter is, of course, fascinating. But it could all have been done so much better.

Since records began
i am very interested in the weather. i have been recording it for over 20 years. i have various weather books at home including "wrong type of snow"
the book i found really interesting however there was no illustrations in it. i thought it was good value for money.

Nice little book
Has no pictures but little story facts that have kept me fascinated for hours. Good to read if you want something different.