THE statistics for December show it to be a very average month but conceal the two highly contrasting weather types that we encountered.

To start and finish the month, including Christmas, there was a changeable, mild, wet and windy, westerly regime. Between these, from the 11th for almost two weeks, cool, calm, anticyclonic conditions held sway, with widely no more than a few spots of drizzle.

It was particularly warm during two three-day spells around the 5th and 27th. Temperatures reached 12-13C (mid-50s F) though, in the brisk breeze, it certainly didn't feel as mild as thermometers suggested.

On the other hand, minima on the 22nd were the lowest of the year in many areas. Here at Carlton, near Stokesley, the mercury fell to -5C (23F) but this was far from the December record. In 1995 it plunged to -12.5C (9.5F).

Last year was one of extremes, chiefly with regard to rainfall. It will probably be remembered most for the extraordinarily wet, early summer, During December's unsettled spells, depressions were dominant, running mainly north-east close to Scotland every other day or so. The final one for sometime arrived late on Saturday the 8th. This was very deep, bringing gales to exposed parts as it slipped south-east across Britain.

With some cold air ahead of it as well, it produced the only significant snowfall of the month but even this was confined to the hills and didn't last long. As the low moved away into the Continent on the Monday, pressure built remarkably strongly in the Atlantic.

The increase in pressure, 50mb (1.5ins) within 48 hours, was one of the largest and quickest that I've seen. If you were watching your barometer, the needle should have swung from "very wet," around 980mb (29.0ins), to "very dry." By the Wednesday, an anticyclone was sitting over the country.

Often, a rapid rise is followed by a speedy decline but, on this occasion, the high proved to be one of the most enduring for a few years. It shifted to the vicinity of the southern Baltic by the weekend and there it remained for another week, feeding bitter south-easterly winds across the British Isles.

Although completely settled during this interlude, cloud amounts were very variable.

Some days were grey and overcast with night-time temperatures staying above freezing.

Others were clear and sunny in many places, with the mercury taking a dive at sunset to give hard frosts, especially away from the coast. Elsewhere, at the same time, there was persistent fog.

December temperatures and rainfall at Carlton-in-Cleveland: Mean Maximum: 7.1C, 45F (-0.1C, 0F); Mean Minimum: 2.1C, 36F (+0.0C, 0F); Highest Maximum: 13.4C, 56F, 4th; Lowest Minimum: -4.9C, 23F, 22nd; Total Rainfall: 67mm, 2.65ins (+1mm, 0.05ins); Wettest Day: 14mm, 0.55ins, 9th and No. of Rain Days, with 0.2mm (0.01ins) or more: 14 (-2.5).