Records tumble as Britain is hit by months of extremes

Officially, the rain has been caused by a large area of low pressure meandering across Britain, and a slow moving warm front keeping the rain in the same place. "It's been chucking it down. It just hasn't moved," said a spokesman for the Meteorological Office yesterday, as rainfall records fell around him.

"This is quite exceptional ... by 6pm Capel Curig in Wales had received 70.4mm (2.8in), but Wales is always a bit wet. More surprisingly, Bridlington in Yorkshire has had 65mm (2.5in) and an unofficial rain gauge in Hull has already recorded 94mm (3.7in). Several weather stations had recorded their highest levels for June.

Sheffield had 236mm by 2pm. "It's not even the end of the month," said the Met Office. But is it climate change? The official line is that no one can pin any one event on anything as vast as global warming. However, with temperatures generally rising around the world, and subtropical temperatures becoming more common in Europe, extreme events are predicted, with intense localised storms becoming the norm.

After a drought last year, the autumn and winter combined were the wettest on record in Britain, and the three months of spring were the hottest on record for the whole of the UK, since 1914. Despite the rain, average June temperatures so far are well above normal. Yet in April it was hard to believe Britain was not becoming as climatically attractive as the south of France, or the highlands of Kenya.

The early summer was the warmest, sunniest and driest, with the average temperature for April 11.1C (52F), beating the previous record of 10.6C, set in 1865. South-east and eastern England had next to no rain, prompting fears of another drought. Totals for April were 2mm, around 5% of average rainfall. Wales, and south-west, central and northern England had only around 20% of the monthly average. The exception was north-west England, at nearly 40% of average rain.

"These things do happen," said the man from the Met Office, surveying his records. "It is pretty rare, though."