Heavy rainfall / strong winds

1 February 2002

Synoptic situation

A deep depression passing to the north-west of the UK as shown on the synoptic chart, on the 1 February 2002, was responsible for bringing heavy rain and strong winds to many areas of the UK.

This event coincided with high tides and followed a very wet spell of weather over the previous couple of weeks, and as a result there were reports of flooding in many areas.

Rainfall map for 1 February 2002

The contoured map below, consists of the data which was available from our real time network on the 5 February 2002.

rainfall map

Rain Gauge Information

The following rainfall information is based on our available real time network on the 5 February 2002, and shows the stations with the highest reported rainfall values.

The daily totals in the table are quite typical for their locations, and only give return periods of around 1-2 years.

Rainfall Station	24 Hour Rainfall Total ending 09Z on the 2 February 2002 ( mm )
Capel Curig, Gwynedd	67.4
Shap, Cumbria	61.0
Carterhouse, Scottish Borders	41.0
Boltshope Park, Durham	37.3
Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway	33.0
Lake Vyrnwy, Powys	32.8

Maximum Gust Speed Map

The map below shows the maximum gust speeds reported in knots ( 1 knot = 1.149 mph ) for the 1 February 2002.

n.b. Highest recorded gust was 100 knots at Aonach Mor ( 1130 metres ), with Heathrow reporting a high of 56 kts ( this has only been exceeded on 9 other days going back to 1969 ).

gust map

Gust Speed Information

Below is a satellite image, showing quite clearly the deep depression to the NW of the UK.

satellite image