ABSTRACT
The birth of orderly scientific enquiry in the years of the Renaissance heralded the growth of reasoned measurement of the variable features of the environment. Air temperature and atmospheric pressure were the noted climatic variables for which precise instruments of measurement were developed at an early stage. In the United Kingdom, where the temporal pattern of annual rainfall totals is markedly different over the country a number of long records suitably representative of the distinctive climatic regions is necessary for the nationwide study of water availability. The regular measurement of rainfall at one site to ensure the direct assemblage of a continuous homogeneous record over many years is reliably carried out at permanently established meteorological stations. One of the earlier compilations of a single long-term rainfall record was undertaken in the Meteorological Office. Many of the findings of the early rainfall analysts remain unchallenged today; indeed the more sophisticated techniques have verified original results.
