RAINFALL in the Tavistock area last year was up by almost a third on the previous year, according to local figures.
Weather enthusiast David Thomas, who takes his own measurements from instruments set up in his garden, has carefully compiled statistics from the last 12 months.
His painstaking records show that 2002 was a washout, with 70.85 inches (1,774 mls) of rain falling in total. This compared with 53.64 inches in 2001? an increase of 32 per cent.
The wettest day of the year for the town was Monday February 25, which saw a collossal 1.74 inches (42mls) of rain fall from jet black skies.
Another hefty downpour arrived in the form of the only significant thunderstorm of the year, which occurred on the morning of Friday, May 17.
On that occasion the town received a drenching as 1.54 inches (39 mls) of rain fell beneath lightning flashes and deafening thunderclaps.
The high rainfall figures are all the more surprising considering a lengthy dry spell between July 12 and October 10, during which only 3.23 inches (82 mls) of rain came down.
The respite from the showers and drizzle was enough to cause soil moisture deficit.
David moved to Tavistock two years ago from Saddleworth, Greater Manchester. He said the year?s rainfall was far higher than anything he had measured previously.
His measurements clearly reflect the mild conditions last winter, with a coldest night-time temperature of -2 C (19 F) on January 10. He said this was due to a complete absence of winds from the Arctic and Russia.
Despite a growing body of evidence pointing towards global warming as the cause of our milder, wetter climate, David does not hold with this school of thought.
?I don?t buy into the global warming theory at all,? he said.