December 2014

December 2014 was another month with a mean temperature above the long-term average and was the eleventh month in 2014 above average, but only just at +0.1C. August was the only month with a below average mean temperature for the whole of 2014. The warmest day occurred on the 23rd with a maximum of 12.0C but in contrast there were two days when the thermometer struggled to reach 3.8C, namely the 4th and 28th. The coldest night was the 30th with a minimum of -6.2C.
There were 16 occasions when an air frost occurred, the greatest number since 2010 when I recorded 25 days with an air frost.
The soil at a depth of 5cm stayed unfrozen until the 30th and 31st when a reading of -0.2C was noted after two very hard frosts.
After many months with high rainfall, especially at the beginning of the year, December brought 57.9mm, some 62% of the 30-year average or 34mm below the mean. The equivalent water content of evaporation from plants, ground sources and water surfaces was 10mm that reduced the potential for rainfall to refill the aquifers during this winter season to around 48mm.
Global sunshine and hence Solar Energy was the highest since I installed these instruments in 2009. The total hours of direct sunshine for the month was 64.5 hours.
Fog was noted on just one day and sleet fell briefly during mid-afternoon of the 27th.
There seven days when the sky was so overcast that no UV was registered. The maximum of 0.6 was the lowest for December since this recording was started five years ago.

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