UK braced for more disruption following unpredictable weather last year

The year 2014 was one of the most bizarre on record from a climatic perspective, and with much of the country having already fallen victim to snow in recent days, 2015 is expected to be similarly erratic.

Last January was comfortably the wettest since archives began, with three times more rain than usual falling during the period. This abnormal period of relentless precipitation had devastating consequences for much of the country – most notably the South West – and led to over 600 homes flooding in Somerset alone.

Fortunately, 2015 hasn’t quite been as drastic; or not yet, anyway! But while rain has so far fallen with more anticipated frequency, several parts of the UK have already been engulfed in snow as temperatures drop below 0°C.

We also enjoyed an uncharacteristically warm summer last time round, with 2014 actually going down as the hottest on record for over a century. The infographic below displays some of the more obscure statistics which emerged over the past twelve months, and go some way to substantiating the notion that British weather is among the most difficult to forecast.