In terms of annual average rainfall, the driest recorded place on Earth is the Atacama Desert Chile, with just 0.1 mm per year.

500 million litres of rain can fall from a single thunderstorm.

The heaviest rainfall in one year in the UK is 6,528 mm recorded at Sprinkling Tarn, Cumbria, in 1954.

The longest drought in the UK occurred in Sussex and lasted 60 days between 17 March and 15 May 1893.

In terms of annual average rainfall, the driest recorded place in the UK is St Osyth, Essex, with just 513 mm per year.

The lowest screen temperature recorded in the world is -89.2 °C at Vostok, Antarctica on 21 July 1983.

In terms of annual average temperature, the warmest place in the UK is Scilly, Cornwall with a mean temperature of 11.5 °C.

Braemar, Aberdeenshire is the coldest low-level place in the UK, in terms of annual average temperature, with a mean temperature of 6.5 °C.

In terms of annual average temperature, the coldest place in the world is Plateau Station Antarctica with a mean temperature of -56.6 °C.

The highest screen temperature recorded in the world is 58 °C at Al'Aziziyah Libya, on 13 September 1922.

In terms of annual average temperature, the hottest place in the world is Dallol, Ethiopia with a mean temperature of 34.4 °C.

At Browning, Montana, the temperature fell 55.6 °C in the 24 hours between 23 and 24 January 1916 from 6.7 °C to -48.9 °C. This occurred during passage of cold front.

At Rapid City, South Dakota on 10 January 1911, the temperature fell from 12.8 °C at 0700 to -13.3 °C at 0715.

Also at Rapid City, South Dakota on 22 January 1943, the temperature rose from -20 °C at 0732 to 7.2 °C two minutes later. This was caused by the onset of warm Chinook winds.

At Heathrow Airport there were 14 consecutive days between 23 June and 8 July 1976 when the temperature was above 31 °C.

12% of the Earth's land surface is permanently covered by ice and snow.

The deepest snowfall ever measured in the USA was 11.43 metres in March 1911 at Tamarac, California.

The greatest snowfall recorded in one day occurred at Silver Lake, Colorado on 14 April 1921 when 1.93 metres were measured.

The highest barometer reading recorded in the world is 1083 mb at Agata, Siberia on 31 December 1968.

The lowest barometer reading recorded in the world occurred in the eye of typhoon Tip as it moved across the Pacific to the east of the Philippines on 12 October 1979. The pressure fell to 870 mb.

The highest barometer reading ever made in Britain is 1054.7 mb and was recorded at Aberdeen on 31 January 1902.

The lowest barometer reading in Britain was made at Ochtertyre, Perthshire on 26 January 1884, when the pressure fell to 925.5 mb.

The highest surface wind speed recorded at a high altitude station is 372 km/h (200 knots) on top of Mount Washington, New Hampshire on 12 April 1934.

The highest surface wind speed recorded at a low altitude station is 333 km/h (180 knots) measured at Thule, Greenland on 8 March 1972

In terms of annual average sunshine, the sunniest recorded place on Earth is Yuma, Arizona with 4,300 hours per year.

The South Pole has no sun for 182 days each year.

In terms of annual average, Keriche, Kenya has more hail than anywhere else on earth, with hail falling on 132 days each year.

On 17 July 1841, a shower of heavy rain and hail in Derby, England was accompanied by a fall of hundreds of small fish and frogs, many of them still alive.

On 14 August 1979, a rainbow was seen to last for three hours over North Wales.