OVER a wide swathe of England, 2006 saw the warmest autumn for well over 200 years.After a record-breaking October, last month saw the third warmest November since records began at Wattisham Airfield 47 years ago.

WE have basked in the warmest autumn for over 200 years, and today Star weatherman KEN BLOWERS looks back on an exceptionally warm November.

OVER a wide swathe of England, 2006 saw the warmest autumn for well over 200 years.

After a record-breaking October, last month saw the third warmest November since records began at Wattisham Airfield 47 years ago.

South westerly airstreams from the Atlantic dominated the weather in Suffolk and Essex and maximum daytime air temperatures reached or exceeded the long-term average on all but one day.

Apart from the first six days of the month, when high pressure over the British Isles gave an abundance of sunshine, the weather pattern for the rest of the month was controlled by a series of depressions from the Atlantic and their associated fronts.

Fog was widespread on the morning of November 7 and visibility on some major roads was down to 100 yards.

Coupled with the warm temperatures was a notably high sunshine total and at Cavendish in west Suffolk the sun beamed down for 114 hours.

At Wattisham the total sunshine was 104 hours and over the region as a whole there were seven days with almost cloudless skies. The Wattisham figure was the highest since records began.

Despite the frequency of rain-bearing depressions, the total precipitation (including hail) was not far from the region's long-term average of 2.50 inches.

This was because there were only small amounts of rain on several days.

Reports of total November rainfall included Higham (Suffolk) 3.04 inches, Wattisham Airfield 2.58 inches, Ipswich 2.45 in, Cavendish 2.28 in and Belstead Hall 2.27 in.

The highest 24-hour rainfall was 0.59 in on November 22.

Torrential rain showers, accompanied by hail, were observed on November 26.

There was only one notable air frost and this occurred in the early hours of November 4 when temperatures sank to 31F(minus 1C).

NOVEMBER AVERAGES and EXTREMES

Maximum daytime temperature 48F

Night minimum temperature 37F

Air frosts 5

Ground frosts 19

Rainfall (1903 to 2006) 2.48 inches

Days with rain 16

Duration of rain (24 hours) 47 hours

Month's sunshine 71 hours

Maximum possible daily sunshine 8.8 hours

Midday sun altitude (Nov 15) 20 degrees

Barometric pressure (mean sea level) 1012 millibars

North Sea temperature (10 miles out) 48F

Highest daytime maximum temperature 64F on November 2 1969

Lowest daytime maximum temperature 30F on November 15 1965

Coldest night 20F on November 30 1964

Maximum recorded wind speed in gusts 72 mph on November 13 1972