Hours of rain continued across much of the country on New Year's Eve, from downpours in some parts to the merely miserable, meaning that as 2012 ended, Britain was on course for the wettest year since records began.
The Met Office said just 46mm (1.8in) of rain by midnight would make this year the wettest – and six steady hours of rain in some places should have ensured that. England, which had drought orders in place in many areas in the spring, has already set a record, with 1,095.8mm of rain between 1 January and Boxing Day.
Parts of upland Cumbria, south Wales and south-west England saw torrential overnight rain, raising the likelihood of further flooding. Hundreds of Environment Agency flood alerts and warnings remain in place, and the Met Office has issued yellow warnings of more heavy rain and gales in many parts of Scotland, the north-east of England, London and the south-east, and Wales.
Global temperatures are forecast to be 0.57C above the long-term average next year, making 2013 one of the warmest years on record, the Met Office said on Thursday.
Parts of the UK are braced for threatened further flooding as successive bands of heavy rain move across the country.
The UK's sealife will be protected by 31 new conservation zones aimed at preventing trawling and dredging destroying life on the ocean floor, under plans announced by the government on Thursday. But ministers rejected advice to create 127 zones, including all the areas where no activity would have been allowed, leading campaigners to describe the plan as "pitiful" and a "bitter disappointment".
To celebrate the launch of the new spectrophotometers; DR 3900 and DR 6000, instrumentation specialist HACH LANGE launched a competition to find the oldest operational HACH or LANGE photometer in Ireland. Extensive research revealed that the contestant with the oldest instrument, and winner of a brand new DR 3900, is Michael Whelan of Wicklow County Council with his DR3 spectrophotometer purchased in 1985.