The thermometer peaked at 16.8C on Saturday, under the strong morning sunshine, before variable cloud drifted across in the afternoon. This high was a significant 6.1C above my long-term average and made it the warmest day since 24th November (17.1C). The day also gave us the highest solar radiation of 571W/m2 at 13.46 and the greatest loss of equivalent rainfall through evaporation from ground sources and plant life of 1.73mm.
Although the minimum of 4.9C overnight, logged at 06.13 early Sunday, it was the lowest for three days, however it was still 2.2C above the average.
The start to Sunday revealed a sky that was mostly cloudy, but high and thin. This cloud cover is thanks to the depression off the Bay of Biscay throwing a large sheet of cloud across southern England, but there is hope that it will thin and clear during the morning to give us the last of the very warm days. As the depression and recent high pressure relocate, the wind has backed further to come from the east, the indication of cooler weather to come after Monday. The barometric pressure is at its lowest today at 08.00 with a reading of 1002.9mb as the high pressure drifts away and the depression edges closer.
The forecast synoptic charts indicate that a cold front will travel south across the UK on Monday and be over our area around midnight Monday. This will herald the arrival of a much colder air stream that will see maxima during the week only rise to single figures, some 2C or 3C below the long-term average, and the wind coming from the much cooler northeast with a likely wind chill.