MARCH kept to tradition by coming in like a lion.

It was fairly tame during the first week, but then turned more ferocious at times. The month went out like a lamb as well, but this was limited to the final day, giving a welcome hint of spring at last.

Though quite sunny across the region, March was wet with up to 1 times the normal rainfall.

Heavy rain on Saturday the 29th, widely the wettest day since the summer, made a big contribution.

In my 25 years of data at Carlton, near Stokesley, with 26mm (1.05ins), it was the second most sodden day in any March. The largest 24-hour total, 30mm (1.2ins), was on the 5th in 1999.

It was slightly on the chilly side everywhere, too, with the return to winter around Easter not assisting in this respect. Uniquely in my records, overall temperatures were lower than in January, when nights were significantly milder.

Also, February's average maxima were higher than March's.

March 2006 was similar, though appreciably cooler, by more than 1C (2F), and marginally damper, with 85mm (3.35ins). Neither March accumulated anywhere near as much rain as the wettest in 1999, when 137mm (5.4ins) teemed down.

The month started with a changeable, south-westerly regime, conveyed by depressions advancing north-east to the north of the British Isles. They were far enough away for their attendant fronts to be weak, giving mainly just small amounts of rain to the east of the Pennines.

However, during the second week, the lows took a more southerly course. Early on Monday the 10th, a vigorous one tracked across the Midlands. Coupled with a spring tide, the associated gales resulted in flooding along the coasts of the South and West.

Our turn to suffer followed on the Wednesday, as the next low crossed the north of North Yorkshire.

Fortunately, it was not quite as fierce as was feared, producing a good blow no worse than any other that we've received during this windy winter.

Over the subsequent weekend, after a more shallow depression had transferred east via the Channel, the breeze picked up from the north. It became colder with some light wintry showers running down the coastal fringe during the next four days.

High pressure that had formed to the west of Ireland migrated further away, allowing a deepening depression to dive south-east across Norway on Maundy Thursday.

It provided a wet morning and, in its wake, a howling north to north-westerly, direct from the Arctic. Additional lows milling around close to southern Scandinavia, maintained this airflow for a week.

This brought frequent showers, mostly of the white stuff. There was also a longer period of snow in the early hours of the Sunday. It settled even at low levels but, as is usual by the time we've reached the equinox, once the sun appeared, it soon melted. Over high ground though, it mounted up to 10-20cm (4-8ins).

Complaints about the weather during the long weekend were rife, but we really shouldn't have expected much better, especially when it was so early. Snow falls at Easter more often than at Christmas, though the cold snap on this occasion was particularly bitter with the penetrating, persistent, strong wind.

Would it have helped to have had the holiday "fixed" in mid-late April?

Mild Atlantic air, trying to infiltrate back into Britain from the south-west, made little progress until the Friday, when an intense depression headed towards Scotland.

This sat close to the Hebrides for the next few days yielding yet another windy spell with rain at times.

This was torrential on that final Saturday. Pressure then rose steadily from the south-west so that the last two days were fine.

March temperatures and rainfall at Carlton-in-Cleveland: Mean maximum: 8.7C, 47.5F (- 0.6C, -1F); Mean minimum: 2.0C, 35.5F (- 0.6C, -1F); Highest maximum: 14.3C, 57.5F, 31st; Lowest minimum: -4.6C, 23.5F, 25th; Total rainfall: 82mm, 3.25ins (+33mm, +1.3ins); Wettest day: 26mm, 1.05ins, 29th and No. of rain days, with 0.2mm (0.01ins) or more: 21 (+6.5).

Figures in brackets show the difference from the 24-year mean, 1984-2007.