by Emma Grove

An amateur meteorologist has said last month was the wettest November on Sheppey since his records began almost 20 years ago.

Figures released this week show that almost triple the average amount of rain fell, causing havoc across the Island – but especially in hard-hit Halfway, which suffered flooding.

According to Ken Beal, who collects rainfall from his home in Eastchurch, the wettest November he had measured was in 2003 when 119mm fell, which is the fourth wettest month he has recorded.

But this year’s November rainfall has smashed that record, becoming the third wettest of all months on Mr Beal’s record with 130.3mm of rainfall.

The 80-year-old said the average November rainfall would normally be between 40mm and 50mm.

October 2000 was the wettest month recorded, with 161.9mm, ahead of July 2007 with 136.3mm. August 2000 is fifth with 114mm.

Although last Tuesday barely any rain fell (0.3mm), it increased throughout the week after that.

Last Wednesday Mr Beal recorded 3.7mm, with 5.5mm on Thursday, 7.7mm on Friday, 6.8mm on Saturday and 13.9mm on Sunday. Only 0.8mm fell on Monday.

The average yearly rainfall should be just short of 500mm, and so far this year Mr Beal has recorded 471mm. Mr Beal said: “The fact we have had such high rainfall in the last few days all adds up.

“I’m not really surprised – the ground was so dry and now we are beginning to get towards the normal yearly rainfall – it’s just a nuisance when it all comes at once. We need about another 29mm in December to make it normal – I don’t know if that will happen. I hope not, we don’t need any more rain for a while.”

Mr Beal is the only source for local rainfall measurement as the Met Office can only give specific figures for where it has weather stations. The closest one is in East Malling. According to a Met Office spokesman, the wettest November in Kent was in 1940, when an average of 176.4mm was recorded.

The latest figures available for last month in the county were up to November 24, when an average of 119.6mm had been recorded.

A spokesman said: “It’s been wet but I don’t think it will be a record-breaker on a county basis.”

Despite the last few miserable days, it has not been as bad for some of the families who were affected by the flooding earlier in the month.

Chris James, who lives in Belmont Road, Halfway, had a drain leaking sewage outside his house, and further down the road from him almost a foot of water had made the road virtually impassible. However, Southern Water was called out to clear the sewer, which Mr James thinks has done the trick.

He said: “You can gauge it against the cemetery wall and it’s been nowhere near as bad as it was before, especially with the heavy rain over the weekend.”

Things have also improved slightly for Mandy Beeton, who lives in Oak Lane, Minster. We had reported how Mrs Beeton’s family were flooded with raw sewage when it rains, pictured right.

Although their driveway and garden was flooded again on Sunday and their driveway has begun to see subsidence, she said Southern Water has removed tree roots which were blocking the drain.