Author: Eric Gilbert

The thermometer struggled to reach a maximum of 5.3C on Thursday in the very brisk northwesterly breeze being 2.7C below the average. It was even colder overnight under clear skies initially, with a minimum of 1.3C at 01.47 early Friday that produced a ground frost. This low was 1.1C below average. It was a dry day with sufficient UV light to just trigger the UV sensor.

Friday after dawn revealed some broken cloud but it soon filled in before 08.00, with the thermometer having risen to 2.6C.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm had dropped to 2.0C by 08.00 as a result of the recent very much lower air temperatures by day and night.

The high-pressure continues to drive our weather, the barometric pressure having risen 15mb since yesterday, to 1022.0 mb by 08.00, with the wind having backed into the southwest and then west later in the day before increasing in strength over the weekend.

The maximum on Wednesday, thanks to the flow of moist, warm air brought on a southwesterly breeze that gusted to 27mph, occurred in the evening rather than the usual daytime. The high of 12.7C occurred at 21.04, the temperature had been around 12C all day. It was all change around midnight as the first of the cold fronts arrived followed shortly by the second. They brought a significant change in our weather as the temperature began to fall steadily thanks to the wind veering from the southwest at that time into the northwest, bringing the cooler air stream. The minimum of 4.0C was logged at 07.28 early Thursday.

Rain was observed beginning to fall at 16.10 and continued sporadically until just after 21.00 amounting to 7.mm, however, we missed the very heavy, consistent rain that was just to the north of our area.

Thursday after dawn revealed the cloud departing to the east and blue sky with the promise of sunshine after it rose above the horizon. The temperature of the soil at a depth of 5cm dropped from 10.7C yesterday at 08.00 to 5.2C thanks to the colder air of the last eight hours.

The recent depression is heading away and we are coming under the influence of a significant anticyclone in the Atlantic that caused the change in wind direction and temperature. The barometric pressure has been rising steadily since midnight and should give a much brighter day. The air stream from the northwest is a slightly drier air with a humidity reading of 91% at 08.00, the lowest at that time for over a week. The barometric pressure reading at 08.00 was 1006.8mb, up 10mb after the low of Wednesday.

Tuesday began at 08.00 with a temperature of 8.6C and was stable around that for much of the day. However, two warm fronts passed our way overnight that resulted in the temperature rising steadily during the evening after 21.00 reaching around 12C by midnight with a peak 12.6C at 08.00 Wednesday. This maximum was a significant 4.5C above the long-term average. The first spots of intermittent rain, from the weather fronts, were observed at 16.45 with much more overnight amounting to 4.2mm that took the monthly total to 44.4mm when the average is 94.0mm.

The start of Wednesday revealed a mainly cloudy sky with the wind gusting strongly and a maximum gust of 27mph logged at 06.09.

We are now firmly under a deep depression just off the coast of Scotland with the barometric pressure having dropped a significant 19mb in the past twenty-four hours with a reading of 1006.5mb at 08.00, which will mean a windy day, mainly from the southwest, with more rain likely later in the afternoon. Two cold fronts will pass our way later today that will see the temperature drop from the cold air that will follow them.

The wedge of mild air on Monday resulted in the thermometer rising to 10.5C at 12.39 during the bright intervals and weak sunshine that was 2.4C above the long-term average whilst thin cloud eased in during the afternoon. Under clearing skies the temperature dropped away during the evening reaching a minimum of 2.3C at 02.33 being 0.1C below average. However, a significant change then occurred as the wind swung into the south and began to pick up speed, nothing major. The cloud that drifted across stopped the warmth dissipating into the atmosphere that combined with the flow of warmer air from the south saw the thermometer make an about turn and begin to rise reaching 8.6C at 08.00. There was a minimal amount of precipitation that was not measurable so recorded as a ‘trace’.

Tuesday revealed a cloudy and dull start to the new day with the wind still coming from the south due to the recent high pressure relocating south and east to North Africa. It is very moist air with humidity 100% at 08.00, the first this month. The barometric pressure has dropped 6mb as the anticyclone slips away.

Thicker cloud has arrived today ahead of two weather fronts that will arrive during the late afternoon and evening bringing rain and increasing wind strength overnight and into Wednesday.

A wedge of mild air covered the UK on Sunday that saw the thermometer rise steadily to reach a maximum of 11.4C at 13.35 being 3.3C above my 40-year average. This was the warmest day since the 7th. The low overnight was likewise above average, in fact significantly above, with a minimum of 8.7C at 07.48 early Monday, being +6.2C. It was dry by day however, a little brief, light rain fell overnight amounting to 0.6mm.

The cloud on Monday after dawn was much thinner and higher although the radar projects few breaks in that cover during the day. In fact the next depression is in mid-Atlantic, easing towards us and beginning to throw light cloud in from the west. The high pressure is still moving away, its centre is projected to move from southern France to the Mediterranean, as a result the wind will back from west to west-southwest and then southwest as the day progresses and be modest in strength. The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 1032.0mb, the highest for four days.

The wedge of moist Atlantic air will continue for possibly three days with warmer days but possibly cooler at night if the cloud cover breaks.