WHAT a wet year 2012 has been!
The last six months in particular have been characterised by rain and yet more rain.
And in fact, the Ronaldsway Met Office says it has been the wettest July-December period since records started in 1947.
Windy with less rain and more sunshine is how the Met Office summed up January’s weather.
One of the most noticeable features was the change in temperature during the month.
The highest temperature of 12.2C was recorded on January 3, but by the end of the month the temperatures were struggling to reach 4C.
On one day, there were 71mph gusts at the airport.
February was a record-breaking month. The 23rd was the second hottest February day on record with the mercury soaring to 12.7C.
It was also the dullest February since 1994.
The warmest March on record was followed by the coldest April since 2001.
In April there was sleet at Ronaldsway on two days, and there were 11 days with a grass frost, the highest number since 1986.
There was a 15C difference between the hottest and coldest days in May.
The coldest day was May 5, when despite full sunshine, it only reached 8C at Ronaldsway. But on May 25, thermometers topped 23C – the second warmest May day on record.
It was the wettest June on record by a large margin. There was 169.8mm rainfall at Ronaldsway, beating the previous record set in June 1982, which saw 132.8mm.
And it was officially the wettest summer (June-August) on record – total rainfall was 381.5mm, which easily surpassed the previous record of 329.9mm in 1985.
In September, there was 50 per cent more rainfall than normal, and it was the coldest September since 1994.
Ron and Jeanette Dobbie, both aged 71, of Peel, received the shock of their lives when their house in Ramsey Road was struck by lightning in October.
It caused a two-foot hole in the roof.
At the time a Met Office spokesman said: ‘We have had just about everything you can possibly imagine weather-wise today, stopping short of snow.
‘There was heavy rain, thunderstorms and hail mixed into that. On top of that there has been some coastal flooding, certainly in Castletown.’
Rainfall for October totalled 4.8 inches, which is 19 per cent higher than the long-term mean average.
The mean average temperature for the month was just 10C, the lowest for October since 1993.
November was colder and sunnier than usual while rainfall was normal for the month, but there was flooding with rain falling on already saturated ground.
There were eight days with ground frost. The coldest day was the 29th with a minimum air temperature of minus 1.5C and a minimum temperature on the ground of minus 6.6C.
Rain in December caused further localised flooding.