Saturday saw the barometer begin the steady rise in pressure resulting in a dry and sunny day with 4.9 hours of sunshine, the sunniest day since 25th December. The high pressure also meant a very calm day with a maximum gist of 10mph from the NW but often the air was very still.
The barometric pressure has overnight been rising strongly with a reading of 1043.7mb at 08.00 on Sunday. This is the highest pressure since 4th January 2019 and is still rising rapidly. The highest recorded pressure in the UK was 1053mb in 1902. At midnight the centre of the high pressure was over south west Ireland at 1041mb and is forecast to be over the Gower Peninsula at midday today having built to 1047mb. By midnight tonight the centre of the anticyclone is forecast to be over the Bristol region reaching a probable peak of 1048mb.
The clear skies and little air movement meant a cool day and cold night. The thermometer struggled to reach a maximum of 5.8C, which was 1.2C below the 35-year average and inevitably under clear skies overnight, an air frost occurred with the thermometer dipping to -2.7C at 08.00 in Sunday.
Sunday dawned with clear skies although a little mist was meandering over the downs at 08.15. The thermometer will continue to drop a little further until the sun rises and increases in strength.
Update at 09.00: the thermometer had fallen further to -3.1C and the barometric pressure risen to 1044.6mb
Update at 17.30: the barometric pressure is currently 1047.8mb, the highest I have recorded since January 2002. The thermometer is falling steadily, currently 1.9C after a maximum of 5.8C.
