After a very welcome dry morning with almost continuous sunshine, fluffy clouds built up after 12.00 on Thursday, thicker after 15.00, that began to limit the sunshine, as a result the maximum of 7.2C was logged at 13.07 being 0.1C below average for late January. During the evening the thermometer fell away under clear skies to a minimum of 1.2C at 23.01 being 0.1C below average. Just before midnight clouds began to thicken ahead of an approaching weather front that saw the thermometer do an about turn and rise again, reaching 5.3C at 08.00. Rain triggered the automatic rain gauge at 02.15, ceasing just after 06.00, amounting to 5.3mm that took the monthly total to 117.6mm being 131% of my 40-year average or + 28mm. It was the wettest January after 2016 when almost double that quantity fell when 219.1mm of precipitation was recorded.
The UV level rose to 1.1 at its peak, still in the low category, but it is only January when the sun’s strength is very weak. It was the highest reading since 14th November.
Friday revealed the back edge of the weather front with total cloud cover. The wind today will initially come from the northwest but back into the north mid-afternoon. This will be due to the barometric pressure building again as a ridge eases in from the anticyclone centred close to the Azores, reaching across to the far Continent, as the weather front eases away to the east. The barometric pressure reading of 1021.6mb was logged at 08.00 being the highest pressure since the 18th.
After three storms in a week we hope for more settled weather ahead. However, in its three month outlook, the Met Office says further westerly winds from the Atlantic will likely bring more storms than usual in February, March and April, but thankfully the outlook does not necessarily mean stormy conditions will prevail over the whole three months.
