Author: Eric Gilbert

Saturday gave us a mild day that saw the thermometer rise well above average (+4.6C) at 13.23 with a maximum of 14.9C. There was a little drizzle mid-afternoon, observed at 15.35, with light rain crossing the area in the early hours of Sunday. Due to the warm, moist air it has been a mild night that saw the thermometer drop no lower than 10.0C at 00.15 Sunday.

Sunday struggled to come to come into life being dark and dull with very low, thick cloud with was producing light rain falling at 08.00. A weather front is traversing the country as the day progress with an improvement in our weather likely late morning. The temperature of the soil at a depth of 5cm read 10.8C at 08.00, significantly up from the low of 1.0C on Thursday thanks to the recent mild days and nights. The barometric pressure has fallen to 1012.8mb at 08.00, down 16mb since the high on Thursday.

The monthly rainfall total amounted to 97.5mm being 106% of my 40-year average or + 5.8mm.

Friday saw the temperatures recover during daylight hours to reach a maximum of 10.6C at 12.47 being 0.3C above my 40-year average. During the afternoon this dropped away to a minimum of 7.8C at 17.15 being 3.8C above average. The low usually occurs during the nighttime, however, a warm front arrived in the early evening that saw the temperature begin to climb again with a few spots of rain amounting 0.3mm. It also became breezy in the evening with a maximum gust of 22mph.

Saturday revealed the thick cloud cover from the warm front and a temperature of 12.3C at 08.00, some 2C above the average for November. The humidity at that time was again 100%, not logged for two weeks, thanks to the warm and humid air from the Atlantic.

After a very cold start on Thursday the thermometer rose from the low of -2.7C at 08.00 and very slowly rose to hover around 6C after midday, dropping to 3.9C early evening and rising again in the early hours. There were many hours of sunshine in the morning but thin cloud began to drift across after 13.00. It was another dry day.

Friday began bright with more sunshine as the short-lived high pressure is still influencing our weather and will give us another dry day with the sunshine again becoming limited in the afternoon. The change shortly after midday will be due to a warm front and associated cloud crossing southern England that is likely to see the thermometer rise a degree or two as the afternoon progresses. The wind will be from the south-southeast for much of the day and moderate in strength.

The centre of the anticyclone is heading away towards Germany and being replaced by low pressure systems trying to edge in from the Atlantic.

With an overcast day due to the cloud from Storm Conall and a brisk northerly wind it was not surprising to find that the thermometer struggled to reach a maximum of 4.6C at 15.08, which was a significant 5.6C below the average. In fact, due to the strong breeze and depressed temperatures there was a wind chill that meant it felt outside at least 2C below the temperature indicated on a thermometer making it a thoroughly unpleasant day outside. The sky thinned late afternoon and evening allowing what warmth were was to dissipate into the atmosphere that saw the thermometer drop steadily reaching freezing (-0.1C) at 20.52 and a minimum of -3.1C at 06.59 early Thursday being 7.0C below the long-term average and producing a hard air frost.

The start to Thursday was bright thanks to a temporary ridge of high pressure, that started to build yesterday, with the temperature making a slight recovery to -2.7C at 08.00 due to thin high cloud drifting in from the west. The barometric pressure has risen rapidly over the past twenty-four hours rising almost 20mb with a pressure reading of 1028.6mb at 08.00 Thursday.The ridge will slowly fade and sink southwards as the day progresses that will see the air stream come from a southeasterly quadrant, however, we have a couple of fine days ahead.

Tuesday was a bright day with several hours of welcome sunshine that boosted the thermometer to a maximum of 10.0C at 13.26 being just 0.3C below the average, a very welcome dry and calm day after the turbulent weekend thanks to Storm Bert. The thermometer dropped away in the early hours to reach a minimum of 4.2C at 08.00 on Wednesday, just 0.2C above the average.

Overnight the cloud built up and the wind strengthened as Storm Conall, named by the Dutch Weather Service as they will suffer the greatest impact from it, passed over southern England with the first rainfall observed at 21.30 amounting to 7.9mm by 08.00. The pressure at the centre of the depression is still falling. That additional precipitation took the monthly rainfall above average for the first time in November reaching 95.9mm being 4mm above the 40-year average. The wind veered into the north in the early hours as Storm Conall drifted eastwards and strengthened producing wind chill again so that at 08.00 it felt more like 1C outside than the 4.2C indicated on the thermometer.

Wednesday struggled to come to life as the residual cloud and drizzle from the Storm Conall weather front draped the Marlborough Downs and Savernake Forest so a very dull and gloomy beginning to the new day. Storm Conall is slowly edging eastwards into the southern North Sea and then Denmark so gradually the cloud will lift, probably after midday, and the drizzle cease. The barometric pressure has fallen to 1000.9.mb at 8.00 but it is now beginning to rise again as a short lived ridge of high pressure begins to edge in to improve the weather for tomorrow.

Incidentally, the three new images on the website were taken in 1984 after the great storm that felled so many trees in Savernake Forest.