Month: December 2023

The warmth has been slowly slipping away with a maximum of 11.7C on Monday, still 3.7C above average but the lowest for two days. The cloud bank associated with the rain band eased away in the early hours allowing the thermometer to drop to 5.3C at 08.00 Tuesday, also above average (+3.0C). Another 5.0mm of precipitation was recorded taking the monthly total to 93.3mm, just 0.6mm above average.

Tuesday revealed the cloud receding to the east and clear skies that allowed the temperature to drop. The barometric pressure is currently rising fast with a pressure of 1015.4mb at 08.00 so a drier day before the rains return later.

Christmas Eve was another mild day and night, well above average with a peak of 12.9C (+5.0C) and a low pf 10.1C (+7.9C). Rainfall amounted to 3.7mm.

Christmas Day dawned yet again dull, cloudy and damp.

A high of 12.0C at 05.53 on Sunday was the warmest since 08.00 on Saturday as the flow of very warm, moist air continues on a westsouthwest air stream. This was 4.0C above the 39-year average and the warmest start to a day since 18th November. The thermometer hovered around 9C for much of the day and early evening then slowly rose in the early hours of Sunday. Drizzle then light rain began early Saturday evening amounting to 1.5mm. That took the monthly total to 84.6mm, just 8mm below the long-term average. A maximum gust of 27 mph was recorded.

Sunday saw the wind back from west to west southwest and increase in strength. The air is being squeezed between the intense low pressure centred between Scotland and Iceland and the old anticyclone now off Spain, with the low winning, barometric pressure has dropped 8mb since Saturday to 1007.9mb Sunday.

Friday brought another dry day and just sufficient brightness to register on the UV meter at 0.6, obviously very low. A peak of 10.7C (2C down on the Friday peak) was again above average (+2.7C) followed by another very mild might with a low of 8.1C (+5.9C).

Saturday revealed a predominantly cloudy sky with a brisk westerly. The recent anticyclone has edged a little southwards, just off Portugal. A deep low pressure just of Iceland is beginning to influence our weather but the westerly stream between the two pressure systems will continue for much of the day. The low will close in over Scotland on Sunday with more disturbed weather.

Thursday by day and night was exceptionally mild, bot well above average with extremes of 12.9C (+5.0C) and 9.4C (+7.1C). It was also another dry day, only the seventh this month. The notable feature was the strength of the wind, gusting to a peak of 37mph, thanks to Storm Pia travelling across the north of Scotland.

At 03.27 Friday we turned the corner and very, very slowly the days now begin to get longer.

Friday arrived with a mainly cloudy sky, just the odd brief break, with the wind still coming principally from the west northwest later in the day from the west, as we begin to come under the influence of an intense high anticyclone mid-Atlantic, The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 1014.3mb, up 6mb since Thursday. The wind will be less strong today, thankfully.