§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when his Department first received from the Meteorological Office rainfall figures for the period 2 to 7 May 1986, in relation to west Yorkshire; when this information was transmitted to his Department's regional offices in west Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Donald Thompson[holding answer 9 February 1988]: First information on rainfall across Britain during the period in question was provided immediately, by telephone—see my reply of 29 January at column 421. This was used to identify areas most likely to be affected by fallout; later, this function was replaced by the use of results of surveys of actual deposition and of monitoring, which made it clear that north Wales, Cumbria and southwest Scotland were the areas of significant deposition. Subsequent to these surveys, preliminary rainfall maps (based on radar data and covering the whole country on 3–4 May) were received by my Leeds regional office at the end of June 1986 from the local meteorological office.