Letter: Record rainfalls on every day of the week

Sir: George Nicholson's findings (Letters, 22 July) that Thursday is the wettest day of the week may apply to Teddington, but it is not generally true, as examples using cumulated figures for the period 1961 to 1990 demonstrate.

At Plymouth, Friday is the wettest day of the week (4,359.4mm), while Tuesday is the driest (4,061.3mm).

At Edinburgh airport, Saturday is the wettest (3,016.7mm) and Sunday the driest (2,759mm).

At Cromer, Thursday is the wettest (2,576.3mm) and Saturday the driest (2,244.6mm).

At Heathrow, Friday is the wettest (2,676.9mm) and Sunday the driest (2,361.2mm).

I have no doubt that if a chi-square test were to be applied to these figures, they would be no more statistically significant than Mr Nicholson's, as Professor MacDonald P Jackson has shown (letter, 27 July).

Yours sincerely,

MARTIN ALLWRIGHT

The Met Office

Bracknell,

Berkshire

27 July