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(T: warm/cold events; R: dry/wet events; S: 'stormy' events)
| Date | T | R | S | Description | Ref: |
| 1300 -1399 | |||||
| 1302/1303 (Winter) |
A cold winter in western Europe / implied for parts of Britain. (Easton, in CHMW/Lamb) | 1 | |||
| 1305 | A hot, dry summer (London/South). | 8 | |||
| 1305/06 (Winter) |
Severe winter (London/South). A severe winter over much of western Europe. (Easton, in CHMW/Lamb): taking these two last entries together suggests a high frequency of blocked / anticyclonic episodes. | 1, 8 | |||
| 1309/10 | London Bridge arches damaged by ice during a severe winter. Thames frozen. A possible frost-fair on the Thames in London; which implies a persistent length of sub-zero temperatures at some time this winter (inferred by the statement in some chronicles that 'sport' was held on the river). Usual stories about people walking across the Thames. According to contemporary reports " dancing took place around a fire built on the ice and a hare was coursed (chased) on the frozen waterway ". | 8 | |||
| 1314-1316 | Several famines occurred during these
years (weather assumed to have been responsible, with all three years noted by
various historians as 'very wet' ... it's a moot point though as to whether all
three were really wet, or just the effects of one or two carrying over).
Brazell says that the famine of 1316 was probably the last really severe one in
England. [ The wet year credited to 1315 may be the origin of the St. Swithin
legend. ] The 'Black Death' (Bubonic plague) that ravaged the country 1348 onwards may have some linkage to these precursor conditions - though it is a long time afterwards. Certainly though, in the mid-1300's, mortality was high due to famine, disease etc. It is suggested that it was an increase in climatic variability, rather than the absolute temperature & rainfall regimes that caused the problems. There is some suggestion of an increase in extreme events (including wind-storms), however defined. |
8 | |||
| 1315/1316 (Winter) |
A cold winter in western Europe / implied for parts of Britain. (Easton, in CHMW/Lamb) | 1 | |||
| 1321 | Hot, dry summer (London/South). | 8 | |||
| 1324 | Drought in summer (London/South). | 8 | |||
| 1325 & 1326 | Severe droughts: rivers & springs dried up & in both years the Thames was so low that sea water penetrated much further up river than usual - for 1326, noted as 'salty' for nearly the whole year (presumably in London). | 8 | |||
| Spring 1331 | In the spring of 1331, there was a drought which lasted 15 weeks, but a few days before 17th June(OSP), when a tournament was due to commence at Stepney, the drought was broken and 'all the ground was thoroughly watered'. | 8 | |||
| 1334 | Tidal flood on the Thames on the 22nd November(OS). (presumably due to wind-driven surge?) | 8 | |||
| 1335 (Annual) |
This year may have been a wet year, but there may be confusion with the floods reported for 1334 (above). | 8 | |||
| 1338 (Autumn - early winter) |
Very wet from October to December. | 8 | |||
| 1338/39 | Hard frost started in December and lasted for 12 weeks. (London/South). | 8 | |||
| 16th January 1342 | This gale destroyed the tower of the Church of Friars Minor in London, and occurred at night. It was associated with a violent thunderstorm - so almost certainly a tornadic event - though of course it may have been associated with a more widely-based cyclonic development. | 8 | |||
| 1342 | "A Great drought (in summer)": southern Britain certainly, but not known if it was nationwide. | 1 | |||
| 1344 | Norwich/East Anglia: at some time in this year, this from Norwich cathedral records . . ." A very high wind, by which the passage-boat coming from Yarmouth was sunk near Cautley, and 38 people perished." | x | |||
| 1346 May |
At the Battle of Crécy (dated as 26th August/OS), in NE France, it is claimed that the occurrence of heavy rain / thunderstorm prior to the battle, and the subsequent cloud clearance & bright (low-angle) sunshine was somehow instrumental in the victory gained by the English forces of Edward III over the combined French / Genoese army of Philip, King of France. It is suggested that the damp crossbow strings of the Genoan mercenaries were no match for the English longbows, and that the bright sunshine caused problems for the French forces. I would have thought it might be something to do with better organisation. | x | |||
| 1348 | Wet autumn & winter. | 8 | |||
| 1351 (Easter) |
"Black Monday: or Easter Monday, 1351, when hailstones fell that killed both horses and men in the army of Edward III., from the extreme cold. (This would have been 18th April according the Julian calendar in use at the time). | x | |||
| 1352 (or perhaps 1353) | Drought, with exceedingly dry summer. Doubts about which year this statement applies to. | 8 | |||
| 1353/54 | Long, cold, hard winter lasting from early December to mid-March (London/South). | 8 | |||
| 1356 | Dry spring. (London/South). | 8 | |||
| 1362 | A wet year. | 8 | |||
| January 1362 | " St. Mary's Wind ": A
severe gale / storm (at least as powerful as that of October 1987) from between
south and west commenced on the 15th (23rd new-style) January 1362 and lasted
for about a week - affecting large areas of southern Britain. A large number of
buildings were blown down or damaged, including St. Pancras Church, the church
of Austin Friars in London, Norwich cathedral and the (original) Abbey Gateway
in St. Albans. Damage also to shipping. The "exceptionally 'severe gale'
caused great destruction - buildings, towers, trees, wind-mills etc., all
'thrown down' according to contemporary chronicles. Noted by English, Scottish
& Irish sources. The "Great Drowning" ('Grote Mandrenke') causing widespread / severe damage across SE Britain - also along the East Coast, and as 60 Danish 'parishes' are noted as having been 'swallowed up' by the sea, with several thousands dead there, it suggests a rapidly-deepening low moving swiftly across southern Britain and the southern North Sea with a high storm-surge event. (Might have been a sequence of events I would have thought, with perhaps the main-event on the 15th). This storm is regarded as the severest on record for the area, with the exception of that in November 1703 & possibly October 1987. |
7, 8 | |||
| 1362/63 & 1363/64 (Winters) |
Cold or Severe winters; frost from December to March in the second winter (London/South), which is regarded as the worst of the two when taking the whole of western Europe (Easton in CHMW). | 1, 8 | |||
| 1368 (or perhaps 1369) | A wet year: there is some doubt about the year. | 8 | |||
| 1373 (or perhaps 1374) (February - March) |
Norwich cathedral records: " A deep snow in February that laid upon the ground seven weeks, and on thawing occasioned a great flood." Given that the listing is under 1373, it may be that in fact the event refers to early 1374, given that church records around this time usually noted the year as beginning around Easter. | x | |||
| 1375 | Exceptionally warm year (in London/South). | 8 | |||
| December 1382 | The flood which occurred in December 1382
prevented the King (Richard II / 5 years on the throne) from travelling from
Westminster to Windsor where he had proposed to spend Christmas. This sounds
like a pluvial flood, due to high rainfall (or melted-snow). Whether the
'court' was travelling overland or along the river isn't known to me. Heavy
rain is noted from 18th to 20th December(OSP). (Richard II .. credited with introducing the handkerchief !) |
8 | |||
| 1392 | Severe thunderstorms in London on 3rd September. | 8 | |||
| 1393/1394 (Winter) |
A cold winter in western Europe / implied parts of Britain. (Easton, in CHMW/Lamb) | 1 | |||
| 1398/1399 (Winter) |
A cold winter in western Europe / implied parts of Britain. (Easton, in CHMW/Lamb) | 1 |
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