Britain Logs Wettest Autumn in 234 Years

LONDON (AP) _ With a few days to go to soak up even more rain, England and Wales have already had the wettest autumn in more than 200 years, officials said Monday. As of 9 a.m. Monday, England and Wales had an average of 18.46 inches of rain since Sept. 1, the Meteorological Office said.

The total has beaten the 17.95 inches of rain recorded in 1852, which had been the highest total for September, October and November since record-keeping began in 1766. The average rainfall for the autumn is nine inches. It rained again Monday afternoon in London. "There is yet more rain to come before the month ends," said Ewen McCallum head forecaster at the Met Office.