Author: Eric Gilbert

The warmth built on Friday, thanks to the air stream coming from well down in the Atlantic, around the Azores area, which raised the maximum to 13.4C at 11.14 being exactly 5.0C above my long-term average. Just before midday cloud began to thicken and obscure the weak sunshine with the first rain drops being observed at 12.32 that continued all afternoon amounting to 4.2mm. Thinner cloud cover overnight allowed the thermometer to drop to a minimum of 8.1C at 07.46 being 6.2C above average but almost equal to the February average maximum. It was a windy morning, calming down in the afternoon, that saw a peak gust of 35mph 12.07.

The peak temperature of 13.4C made it the warmest day since 1st December when a maximum of 13.9C was recorded. The lowest barometric pressure all month was set at 14.17 with a reading of 1004.4mb.

Saturday after dawn revealed total cloud cover from the back edge of Friday’s weather fronts. However, there were signs of brightness as the thicker cloud edged eastwards so I am optimistic of some sunshine as the morning progresses. The cloud cover radar indicates that the cloud will begin to thin significantly after 13.00. As the depression approaches the wind will veer from south to west as Saturday progresses.

A deep depression has been developing in Mid-Atlantic that will head northeastwards over the next day or so that by tomorrow will see it centred between Iceland and Scotland. The low pressure system will result in stormy conditions on Sunday with strong wind gusts, likely greater than that on Friday also much rain later in the day.

The shrub shown in the picture, that has been flowering for several weeks, is Mahonia Japonica. It is much loved by bees but not at the moment, it also produces a very pleasant, strong scent. The recent warmth and sunshine has seen the first signs of crocuses (or croci) opening so tomorrow I will show some of the early colour in my garden as the first signs of Spring become evident.

The unusual warmth for February, brought from around the Azores region, had flooded the country by Thursday that saw the starting temperature of 11.2C rise to a maximum of 12.4C at 16.04 being 3.9C above my long-term average. However, it was a very wet day with thick,low,cloud that produced variable light rain on and off all day, combined with light showers overnight, that amounted to 3.0mm. The maximum gust of 30mph was the strongest since the 7th. Not surprisingly, the thick cloud overnight again provided a duvet to minimise loss of any warmth into the atmosphere so the temperature only dropped to 10.8C just after midnight at 00.26 being a significant 9.1C above the 40-year average. The maximum solar energy of 130 w/m2w as the lowest for five days. The maximum UV light was the lowest forever a week.

Friday revealed a cloudy start to the new day, yet again. The depression will throw another weather front across our region later in the morning, that from the current radar display, looks to have brief but heavy rain within it. The wind, gusty overnight and rising since just after midnight, is forecast to be very strong during the morning. The back end of the weather front will mean a cloudy end to the day.

The depression is slowly edging northeastwards towards Iceland that will see the wind veer from the south to southwest later today. The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 1008.9mb, the lowest pressure all month.

Saturday will bring a calmer day but another deep depression is developing mid-atlantic that is likely to bring very wet and windy weather, probably for later on Sunday.

The shrub shown in the picture, that’s been flowering for several weeks, is Mahonia Japonica. It is much loved by bees but not at the moment, it also produces a very pleasant, strong scent.

Slowly on Wednesday the temperature eased upwards during daylight hours reaching 8.0C in the afternoon. However, as the warmer air began to filter through after 20.00, and with the ground releasing some of its chill, there was a more significant rise to reach 11.2C at 08.00 on Thursday morning. Therefore, within twenty-four hours the thermometer had climbed from 0.2C to 11.2C with the highest temperature during the night rather than the daytime. There were spots of rain just after 21.00 but the main rain began just before 22.00 last night with the more continuous rain falling between 22.00 and midnight, further accumulations were recorded between 04.00 and 08.00 with a day total of 5.6mm. That additional precipitation took the monthly rainfall to 31.1mm compared to the long-term monthly average of 68.0mm. The UV level at the peak op the brightness rose to 1.4 again.

Thursday began dark and damp under low cloud ahead of the depression easing in from the west. As the depression began to take charge of our weather the wind has backed from the cold southeasterly to south and southwest today and will increase in speeded as the day progresses. A maximum gust of 21mph was recorded at 02.04 early Thursday morning. The barometric pressure had dropped again to read 1012.1mb at 08.00.

The rain radar shows bands of heaver rain moving in from the west associated with two weather fronts that will cross our region this morning. There were brief flashes of lightning over Exmoor earlier in the morning. One of the wetter periods today, indicated by the rain radar, will be just before and after mid-day as a narrow and more intense band of rain arrives. The deep depression in mid-Atlantic is dragging up the warmer air from around the Azores region, with the temperature continuing to climb as I write.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm, read at 08.00 each day, indicates that the recent chill in the ground has recovered quickly in the last twenty-four hours with the reading on each of the last four days being 0.9C, 0.1C, 1.0C and 8.9C respectively.

The shrub shown in the pictures for the next few days will be Mahonia Japonica, much loved by bees, it also produces a very pleasant, strong scent.

Tuesday brought the first initial changes in our weather after ten days of gloomy, very cool weather. The thermometer rose to its highest since the 6th, but not to get excited, with a maximum of 6.8C it was still 0.6C below the long-term average. However, the strong sunshine, until just after midday then more muted due to high cloud, gave us the highest solar radiation since 26th October with a maximum of 476 watts/m2. In addition, the UV light brought us the maximum value of 1.4 since 31st October 2024.

The pool of cool air was still with us overnight that saw the thermometer slowly drop away to reach a minimum of -0.1C at 06.04 early Wednesday that produced a ground frost and a very short lived air frost. By 08.00 the temperature had recovered to 0.2C.

Wednesday revelled any with high, thin cloud that allowed some brightness at first.

The very large area of low pressure is still edging closer. The advance edge of the associated weather front is currently over Somerset with variable rain showers. Between that area and ourselves there is a band of thicker cloud that will soon obscure any possible sunshine this morning. The barometric pressure has fallen 7mb since yesterday, the greatest drop since the 8th, indicating that the depression is winning the battle against the recent high pressure, now well to the east. The wind direction will change this afternoon, from the southeast where it has been for the past two days, to south, heralding the arrival of the warmer air. The downside of this change will be more cloud that will limit the sunshine and bring variable rain over the next few days.

The shrub shown in the pictures for the next few days will be Mahonia Japonica, much loved by bees, it also produces a very pleasant, strong scent.

The battle of the air masses continued on Monday with the colder air still in place brought on a light easterly breeze. The maximum of 5.7C was logged at 14.39, as hazy sunshine arrived around midday, being 2.7C below the long-term average. From that time the thermometer very slowly dropped away over the next sixteen hours to reach a minimum of -1.2C at 06.25, early Tuesday, being 3.1C below average.

Monday saw a significant improvement with the strength of the UV light as the UV sensor was triggered continuously between 10.00 and 16.00 with a peak of 1.3, the highest since 31st October, bt till in the ‘Low’ category.

The last four colder days, and particularly nights, have seen the cold air seep into the ground as the soil temperature at a depth of 5cm read at 08.00, logged 3.7C, 2.2C, 0.9C and 0.7C respectively.

Tuesday revealed a sky with thin, high cloud that allowed variable, milky sunshine after sunrise.

Today is the last day of the 10 day battle between the high pressure system and low pressure system with significant changes by Wednesday.The forecast charts show the depression making significant advances over the UK that will herald in warmer days but unsettled weather with rain at times. The barometric pressure has varied just 1mb over the last four days but by 08.00 on Wednesday we will see a marked drop in pressure as the depression gets closer.

P.S. The flowers are early crocus at Welford Park and Garden, Berkshire