Feature: Just what's happened to the weather

Nobody was much surprised to learn the year to the end of March was the wettest in England and Wales since records began in 1766.

But there could be help on the way for anyone still drying out their macintoshes and galoshes, the weathermen have read the runes and tell us there is a heatwave on the way.

A few months of sunshine might also give spongy Sussex and its waterlogged residents the chance to dry out.

The first of the autumn's heavy rain was on September 15 when nearly an inch fell in Sussex and double that in Hampshire - a storm described as a Hundred Year Event by those in the know.

The next Hundred Year Event came a month later on October 12 when nearly 6in of rain fell overnight on East Sussex - with Lewes and Uckfield bearing the brunt as the rivers Uck and Ouse burst their banks.

On November 5 another storm dumped 2.2in of rain on our heads.

By Christmas, enough Hundred Year Events had been sandwiched into three months. The phrase - used liberally by anyone trying to explain why drains, flood defences, sewage plants, you name it, did not seem to work - had become quite worn out. As the New Year dawned, amid yet more torrential rain, a lot of fingers were crossed that the wet weather had passed.

Argus weather man Ken Woodhams said: "We thought perhaps once we got to the end of the year things might change but it has just gone on."

He has just recorded the wettest March in Brighton and Hove since 1981 - when more than double the 30-year average amount of rain fell on his garden in Avondale Road.

He measured 5.3in of rainfall during the month, compared to an average of 2.3in. The wettest day was the 20th when just under one inch of rain fell, more than during the whole of March last year.

So far this year,14.1in of rain has dropped on the city, the wettest first quarter of any year since 1937.

In fact, that foot-and-a-bit of rain, which came after the catastrophically wet autumn, is nearly double the 30-year average and half the amount we would normally expect to fall in a whole year.

The seven months of September to March saw 42.8in of rain fall - a foot more than would normally fall in 12 months.

Temperatures have been just as eccentric. In Brighton and Hove, the March average was slightly cooler than usual, bucking a trend that has seen higher than normal temperatures since late 1998.

The average temperature for the month was 6.5 degrees centigrade (44 Fahrenheit), compared to a 30-year average of seven degrees.

Mr Woodhams said: "It is only the third month in that period that we have had below average temperatures.

"We have had generally milder than average conditions for quite a while. When you get a cold month it seems to be the exception now.

"It is warmer weather but don't ask me to explain, it is accepted it is something to do with the warming of the atmosphere."

Nationally, there has been only one March with a lower average temperature than the one just finished in the past 14 years, while the South East had about half its normal amount of sunshine.

And if the rain was not enough, a snowstorm heralded the first day of spring.

The evening rush hour in many parts of Sussex ground to a halt as rain (almost an inch of it) turned to snow and blizzards swept across the county.

Brighton beach got a dusting as snow settled on the seafront for the first time in many years, there was enough to build snowmen at Hove Park, while on parts of the South Downs an inch or so fell.

Many city streets came to a standstill, as cars skidded into one another or were abandoned as they overheated in traffic jams caused by the worst winter storm of the year.

Temperatures, however, soon turned very mild and the snow quickly melted - adding to the amount of water in the mushy ground.

According to the Met Office, Sussex was in the wettest part of Britain last year in terms of the amount of rain that fell beyond what we would usually expect.

Is it a blip or is it the consequence of pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and not having the wit to do much about it?

While it was accepted the world was warming up, it was still too early to tell whether the wet winter was caused by climate change, according Met Office spokesman Andy Yatman.

He said: "It is difficult to pick up trends from rainfall. Global warming would suggest we are likely to see more heavy rainfall events in the future.

"However, it is still too early to say that this 12 months was caused by global warming."

Met Office officials, who insist they are not relying on the traditional weather forecasters' tools of seaweed and a pine cone, hint we are heading for a warmish summer, if not quite a heatwave.

The prediction is based on the same computer models used to compile the nightly forecast, combined with measurements of sea temperatures, which are the key to long distance forecasting.

Although spokesman Andy Yatman, perhaps remembering Michael Fish's assurance there was no hurricane on the way in 1987, cautioned against running out for sun cream.

He said: "A lot of people are saying it is going to be a good summer but a lot of the people who are saying that have said it the past two summers as well."

Remember what they were like?