Editing West Sussex (section)

===Climate===
West Sussex is the sunniest county in the United Kingdom, according to [[Met Office]] records. Over the 29 years to 2011 it averaged 1902 hours of sunshine per year.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bognor Regis the sunniest spot in Britain |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/8593378/Bognor-Regis-the-sunniest-spot-in-Britain.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=28 December 2011 |access-date=28 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206062640/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/8593378/Bognor-Regis-the-sunniest-spot-in-Britain.html |archive-date=6 December 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Sunshine totals are highest near the coast with [[Bognor Regis]] often having the highest in mainland England, including a total of 2237 hours in 1990. Mean annual temperature for southern coastal counties is around 11&nbsp;°C. The coldest month, January, has mean daily minimum temperatures of around 3&nbsp;°C near the coast and lower inland. July tends to be the warmest month when mean daily maxima tend to be around 20&nbsp;°C. A maximum temperature of 35.4&nbsp;°C occurred at North Heath, [[Pulborough]] on 26 June 1976. Coastal high temperatures are often moderated by cooler sea breezes.<ref name=MetOff>{{cite web|url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/so/|title=Southern England: climate|publisher=Met Office|access-date=29 October 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605044019/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/so/|archive-date=5 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Monthly rainfall tends to be highest in autumn and early winter and lowest in the summer months, with July often being the driest month. There is less rainfall from summer convective showers and thunderstorms than in inland areas. The county can suffer both from localised flooding caused by heavy rainfall and from water shortages caused by prolonged periods of below average rainfall. Winter rainfall is needed to recharge the chalk aquifers from which much of the water supply is drawn.<ref name=MetOff/>