2012 was the second wettest on record in Britain, the Met Office has announced.
After a very dry start to the year rainfall totalled 13307mm (52.4 inches). 15% higher than the average, but short of the 1337.3mm record set in 2000.
Interestingly England had its wettest year since records began in 1910 but it was only the 3rd wettest for Wales, the 17th for Scotland and 40th for Northern Ireland.
Of course in April 2012, seven water companies in southern and eastern England introduced the biggest hosepipe ban for many years, affecting 20 million people. Then the deluge began, with April itself being the wettest for over 100 years.
The Met Office says that there has been an increase in annual rainfall of about 5% between the periods from 1961 to 1990 and 1981 to 2010, with 4 of the top 5 wettest years occuring since 2000.