Month: February 2021

The intense anticyclone still over the UK produced another calm day on Saturday with very little breeze that on just one occasion peaked at 9mph. This was the second consecutive day with a maximum gust of 9mph, the lowest the lowest since 9th January (7mph). The sunshine on Saturday was slightly down on the Friday total with 7.1 hours. The breeze, such as it was, had veered into the east-northeast. The thermometer showed a maximum of 11.8C again being 4.1C above the average.

The past night was slightly less cold than the two previous nights with a minimum of -1.0 that occurred briefly an hour before dawn, which was 2.5C below the 37-year average. By 08.00 on Sunday, under the influence of continuous sunshine, the thermometer read 0.6C.

The centre of the anticyclone has edged eastwards to be over The Wash with a pressure of 1038.5mb at 08.00.

With the intense high pressure overhead on Friday it was not surprising that we had a day of sunshine, 7.4 hours, and light winds, a maximum gust of just 9mph. The minimal wind movement was from the west or northwest that meant a slightly cooler day than of late with a maximum of 11.8C. However, this was still 3.1C above the 37-year average.

Thursday into Friday gave us four hours of sub-zero temperatures but the past night produced just over nine hours of sub-zero temperatures as the thermometer dropped below freezing at 22.47 Friday evening.

Saturday dawned with strong sunshine again as the anticyclone is still firmly positioned overhead with the centre now just of the South Wales coast. The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 10.42.3mb, which is the highest pressure since 21st January 2020 and should provide another sunny and calm day. At 08.00 the temperature had risen to -0.8 and by 08.15 was above freezing. The ground temperature at a depth of 5cm continues to fall with a reading this morning of 1.2C, the lowest since 14th February.

Thursday saw the sun come out in the afternoon as the anticyclone closed in on the UK. The westerly wind, some times from the northwest, meant a cooler day even though we had 4 hours of sunshine. The air from this direction arrives after crossing the Atlantic rather than North Africa and Iberia as on previous days. The thermometer rose to a maximum of 12.5C at 14.45 being 4.8C above the 37-year average. This peak was 2.3C lower than the Thursday high.

Late afternoon the temperature began to fall away under clear skies and a full moon, dropping to a minimum of -2.5C at 06.48 on Friday. This low was 8C below the previous days minimum.

Friday arrived with continuous sunshine as soon as it rose above the horizon.The centre of the anticyclone is currently centred off the South Devon coast with the pressure at 08.00 on Friday of 1037.7mb, the highest since 5th November. The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm has dropped from 9.6C two days ago to 1.7C today.

The sub-tropical southerly air stream on Wednesday saw the thermometer climb to a peak 14.8C on Wednesday at 09.18. This was the warmest February day since 26th February 2019 when a maximum of 18.2C was logged. The temperature began to drift downwards after 13.00 to reach a minimum of 6.5C at 06.18 on Thursday morning.

A cold front passed over the area during the early hours of Thursday that brought the cooler air with minimum rainfall of 0.4mm.

The trailing end of the weather front meant a cloudy start to Thursday although the cloud was quite high and the temperature at 08.00 had recovered to 7.4C.

An intense area of high pressure has been developing over the Continent during the past twenty-four hours that has seen our barometric pressure rise to read 1026mb at 08.00 Thursday with the prospect of drier but cooler weather ahead.

The first signs of even warmer air from Iberia arrived on Tuesday with the temperature during daylight hours around 10 – 11C for much of the day and early evening. During the early hours of Wednesday the thermometer rose a little higher with a maximum of 13.3C at 08.00 Wednesday morning.

The minimum during the past twenty-four hours was 6.9C at 08.00 on Tuesday and the warmest, not during daylight hours, but at 08.00 on Wednesday, which was 5.6C above the average maximum. We enjoyed 4.8 hours of sunshine on Tuesday with the UV level rising to 2.3, not reached since 11th October and at the top end of ‘Low’.

The southerly wind was very brisk on Tuesday with a maximum gust of 31mph at 13.21

With a temperature of 13.3C at 08.00 on Wednesday it was the warmest start to a day since 18th October. There has been a consequent rise in the ground temperature at a depth of 5cm, currently reading 9.6C, not seen since 23rd December. The southerly air stream is now arriving from far south of the UK originating in North Africa and then across Iberia.

The sun began to shine quite strongly an hour after sunrise on Wednesday that saw the thermometer rise further with a temperature of 14.6C at 09.00. This temperature is around the April average maximum, not usual in February!