“Dry January” has just acquired a whole new meaning, as weather forecasters reveal that the month saw much less rain than usual.

The Met Office said rainfall was well below average for the month as a whole nationally - and that the “climate region” of East and North East England had just 22.9mm of rainfall,

This was the East and North East’s second driest January on record, dating back to 1910. Only January 1997 was drier with just 15 mm of rain recorded.

Fred Best, a forecaster at Norwich-based Weatherquest, said their official figures for rainfall in East Anglia during January were not yet available.

However, he said: “It has been a particularly dry January, and potentially one of the driest 10 ever in East Anglia.”

Mr Best said that over January there had not been many weather fronts and weather systems bringing rain.

However, there has been some wet weather during the early days of February, including rain during Monday, and he said: “This week is looking a bit more changeable. There is the potential for rain on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, and then a bit more at the end of the week.”

The Met Office’s national January figures also show that average temperatures for the month as a whole were close to normal, but with some extremes. This has included snow in our area at the end of the month.

Its report said: “The first half of January was relatively mild, interspersed with short cold snaps, while in contrast the second half of the month was relatively cold, interspersed with short mild spells. The end of the month saw a cold spell that brought widespread ice and snow.”