Month: January 2025

Saturday was a very pleasant, dry day after the passage of Storm Eowyn with light winds but only average temperatures by day. Just before midday thin cloud was observed drifting cross the sky and thickening before 13.00 reducing the strength of the sun, turning it weaker and hazy after strong sunshine all morning. Thus the day maximum of 7.8C occurred at 12.48 before the thicker cloud arrived being 0.6C above my 4-year average. The UV level rose at its peak to 0.8, still in the low category, but it is still January although it was equal highest this month with that logged on the 16th.

During the early evening the thermometer steadily fell away to reach a low of 1.1C at 21.08. After that time more thicker cloud arrived ahead of the next storm that saw the thermometer slowly recover to reach 5.0C at 08.00 on Sunday. There were a couple of light showers between 02.30 and 03.45 amounting to 1.0mm that took the monthly total to 70.5mm when the long-term average for January is 89.6mm.

As the depression approaches the wind will swing from predominantly southwest yesterday to mostly southeast today. The rain radar at 08.00 showed a very wide rain band with heavy rain currently moving across the west country and forecast to arrive here between 10.00 ad 11.00.

The radar shows another depression has developed in the eastern Atlantic that the Spanish Met Office have named Storm Herminia. This is currently heading for Ireland later today and then moving across to middle England. The wind has been slowly rising since 06.45 and will get very strong as the morning progresses. The barometric pressure has dropped again ahead of the storm with a reading of 998.7mb at 08.00, down a modest 6 mb since yesterday, but is currently falling rapidly, as the depression closes in, that had a centre pressure of 957mb at midnight but forecast to deepen further to 952mb by midday.

The worst of the weather on Friday was during the early hours with the strong winds gusting to 33mph and heavy rain. By mid-morning it had brightened up that allowed the thermometer to rise to a maximum of 10.0C at 13.59 being 2.9C above my long-term average. In fact the thermometer was up and down over the past twenty-four hours. At 21.30 the air temperature was 5.5C following that the temperature began to rise slowly reaching 7.5C at 01.30 early Saturday. This was obviously due to cloud cover arriving and backed up with the evidence of rainfall falling in that period, from 00.30 to 01.30, amounting to 1.3mm. From that time cloud obviously began to clear as the temperature began to fall away reaching a low of -0.1C at 08.00 under clear blue skies.

Saturday after dawn revealed clear skies and the evidence of a dry and sunny day as the barometric pressure has been rising due to Storm Éowyn easing away over Scandinavia. The barometric pressure has risen to 1004.5mb at 08.00 after the low of 988.2mb early Friday, a significant rise of 16mb.

The synoptic charts show another depression in mid-Atlantic heading our way with a track that will take it further south, the time over middle England. This depression, like Storm Eowyn, is forecast to deepen rapidly and bring strong winds and heavy rain on Sunday.

The temperature hovered around 4C for many of the daylight hours with a minimum of 4.2C at 19.05. However, with Storm Éowyn approaching the temperature began to slowly rise reaching a maximum 10.6C at 06.49 early Friday. Usually the maximum is during the day and not overnight. This temporary warmer air made it the second warmest twenty-four hour period this month after 12.4C was logged on the 5th. The several hours of rain during the day stopped just after 13.00 with occasional, sharp showers midafternoon. A weather front crossed our area during the night that produced more rain from 01.10 to just before 07.00 early Friday totalling 17.7mm that took the monthly total to 68.2mm when the long-term average is 89.6mm.

Friday after first light revealed the back edge of the weather front easing away eastwards with the sky beginning to clear with the prospect of modest sunshine during Friday. The rain has stopped and the wind abated. The barometric pressure is beginning to rise rapidly as the centre of Storm Éowyn heads towards Scandinavia. By 09.00, under clearing skies, the temperature had dropped over 2C to reach 8.1C with a little wind chill making it feel like 7.8C outside.

Being some fifty miles inland, the strength of the wind is considerably diminished from that logged at the coast, due to it passing over the ground, trees and buildings that produce considerable friction.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm read 7.2C at 08.00 due to the warmer air late yesterday and overnight, which was the highest since the 1st (9.4C).

The track of Storm Éowyn was correctly predicted with the centre over Northern Ireland and Scotland. The pressure at 08.00 here was 988.2mb whereas in the north the pressure at the centre of the storm dropped to an exceptional 944mb. This explains why we only had a modest maximum gust of wind of 33mph at 02.27 early Friday.

I apologise that unbeknown to me the 2025 Daily Stats sheet could only be accessed by using the 2024 sheet first. This glitch has now been rectified by my webmaster. I’m old and just fill in the spaces!

Wednesday gave us a bright, dry and calm day although once again the maximum of 4.5C, logged at 15.56, was below average at -2.6C. The thermometer hovered around 3.5C for most of the evening but just before midnight the temperature began to drop with a minimum of -0.2C logged at 02.14 early Thursday, which was 1.4C below the long-term average. The barometric pressure, having been dropping steadily for several days, changed little.

Thursday dawned slowly under low, thick cloud as a warm weather front crossed southern England. There was also light rain and drizzle with the wind beginning to pick up after so many calm days. The temperature had recovered to 4.3C by 08.00. The wind has now changed from North to southwest as the storm approaches.

Storm Éowyn has been deepening steadily and forecast to have an exceptionally low centre pressure later today of 938mb as it approaches the UK. The track of this intense depression is now forecast to head towards Scotland over the next twenty-four hours. The forecast gusts over our area on Friday are up to 53mph.

News Flash:

The European Storm Forecast Experiment has just issued a level 2 warning of possible tornados on Friday ahead of Storm Éowyn. They say the chances of parts of the south having the rare rotating weather pattern “cannot be ruled out”. The south of England is said to be of potential risk of tornados, especially between Bristol and London.

Apologies that the 2025 Data sheet could only be accessed previously by opening the 2024 sheet, which I was not aware of until today. My webmaster has now resolved the glitch.

There was minimal brightness on Tuesday morning that resulted in the temperature eventually rising to a maximum of 5.9C at 12.16, which was 1.2C below the average. Cloud built up after midday that limited any further rise in temperature.

Wednesday began with very misty conditions, humidity at 99% and a temperature of 2.6C at 08.00 as a cold weather front crossed our area, that should slowly improve in the late morning. These conditions are the result of the two depressions, to the northwest and southwest of the UK, easing in from the Atlantic. The barometric pressure has fallen to a low of 1005.3mb, down a significant 46mb since the 12th, the lowest since the 6th. As these the depressions move eastwards they have resulted in the wind backing into the north and northwest today.

The recent Arctic air over North America has been merging with tropical air from the Bay of Mexico producing a strong temperature contrast fuelling a very powerful Jet Stream, possibly as strong as 250mph. This will rush across the Atlantic likely bringing with it a very low-pressure system arriving on Friday that has been named Storm Eowyn, the fifth of the season. The forecast centre pressure is thought to be an exceptional 948mb before it reaches the UK. The most recent estimate is that the track of this storm will be to the north of the UK although the forecast is for winds to increase to around 47mph at their peak over southern England.