EXPLANATION OF COLUMNS GIVEN ON P. 18.

WEATHER.-Beaufort scale is given on p. 10.

* An asterisk is inserted in all places for which information is not usually received.

+ The evening observations are taken at 6 P.M. in France and our Islands, with the exception of Oxford, where they are taken at 8 P.M. In Sweden and Denmark, the observations are taken at 8 P.M. (Christiania time).

PRESSURE

TEMPERATURE

GENERAL SITUATION AT 8 A.M.

Highest, 30.5 inches and upwards over the South of
Sweden.

Lowest, 29.9 inches and less over the Gulf of Genoa,
but relatively low, 30.0 inches and less, to the North-
westward of our Islands and the Westward of Norway.
Highest, 48° at Valencia, 47° at Belmullet, 46° at
Roche's Point, and 45° at Stornoway and Mullagh-

more.

Lowest, 6° at Stockholm, 12° at Hernösand, 14° at
Cambridge, 15° at Oxford, and 20° at Munich.
Hard frost prevailed last night over Central England,
the lowest readings being 13° at Cambridge, 17° at
Loughborough, and 22° in London.

WIND.

WEATHER

SEA

Light or moderate from NE. over Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the English Channel. Southerly elsewhere, strong in force on the West coasts of Ireland and Scotland.

Dull on our Western and Northern coasts, with driz-
zling rain at Stornoway.

Fair in most other localities, but densely foggy over
Central England and the Netherlands.

(Rough at Stornoway and Valencia, but moderate to
smooth elsewhere.

PROBABLE CHANGES IN SYSTEM NOW PRevalent.

The anticyclone noticed over England and the North Sea yesterday appears to be still moving Eastwards, and the barometer is falling generally. The depressions which are travelling along our Western coasts appear likely to advance closer to our shores, and a further increase of wind is probable over Ireland and Scotland.

No important change is likely at present over England beyond a gradual rise of temperature.

FORECASTS

FOR THE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS ENDING AT NOON ON
2ND JANUARY 1887.

WARNINGS.-The South cone was hoisted last evening in districts o, 6,

9, 10, and part of 1. An asterisk is inserted against those districts in which signals are now flying.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE WEATHER OVER EUROPE DURING THE PAST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.

THE reports for yesterday showed that a large anticyclonic system had spread over the whole of Northern and North-western Europe, its centre being over the Eastern parts of the British Isles and the North Sea, where the barometer at 8 A.M. stood at a little above 30.5 inches. In the West and North-west of our Islands, however, the mercury had begun to fall steadily, while to the South-eastward of the high-pressure area readings decreased to 29.5 inches over the Adriatic. Thus, while South-westerly winds had set in over Ireland and Scotland, calms and variable airs were felt over England and the North Sea, and North-easterly to Northerly winds over the South of France and Northern Italy. The weather in the NW. and N. was dry, cold, and very foggy, while at the more Southern stations it was somewhat cloudy, with showers locally. Temperature was below the freezing-point at all but the most Western and Southern stations; over the Western and Southern parts of the Mediterranean it was still above 50°. The highest individual readings were 53° at Algiers, 52° at Malta, 51° at Brindisi, and 50° at Constantinople; the lowest, 5° F. at Hernösand, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg, 9° at Archangel, 14° at Helsingfors, 20° at Loughborough, 23° at Oxford, 26° at Cracow, 27° at Lemberg.

During the day the South-westerly winds in the West and North-west continued to blow steadily, but did not spread much over England, where dense fogs prevailed locally, and the night became very cold.

HAVING thus discussed the observations themselves, we come to the results and conclusions to be drawn from them, and, in order to make these intelligible, we must indulge in a little theorising, and refer to some things which, though not yet recognised as absolutely proved, appear at least probable, as regards the behaviour of the wind.

Every one knows that the East is very different in its character from the West wind, the former being reputed to be 'good neither for man nor beast.' Any one with a touch of bronchitis or rheumatism can (or at least thinks he can) tell you, without looking at a weather-cock, whether or not there is Easting in the This contrast arises from the fact that as a rule the temperature and dampness of the air in Western Europe are both lowest when the wind is about Northeast, and highest when it is about South-west. This is, however, a local phenomenon peculiar to certain parts of the globe, for if we travel from Western Europe, along the same parallel of latitude as our own,

wind.