Thursday 16th July
Once again a cloudy start to the new day on Wednesday limited the rise in temperature but as the cloud thinned and broke up during the late morning the heat began to rise. A maximum of 27.7C was logged at 17.18, once again returning above the heatwave threshold, being 4.8C above average. The past night was the coolest since the 12th as the thermometer dropped away to a minimum of 13.3C at 03.55 early Thursday, only 1.3C above my July average.

The arrival of Thursday followed the recent pattern of the new day beginning with variable cloud that had drifted in from the North Sea that initially limited the rise in temperature, although by 08.00 the thermometer had risen to 17.2C.

The subtle, minimal change in the centre of the anticyclone will mean that the wind will back a few degrees on Friday that will see the breeze have a more northerly component, perhaps north-northeast, that will bring a slightly cooler air stream. The result will be, that after another hot day on Friday, peak temperatures over the weekend will drop a few degrees but still be above average for July, but less intense heat.

I notice that the BBC forecasts for later next week suggest that another, short lived heatwave, will arrive. I hope that forecast does not materialise.

Although the ground is now very dry, there is still daily, over 5mm of equivalent rainfall lost into the atmosphere due to evaporation, mostly from plant life I would think. The total loss this month now stands at 81.4mm, with the daily loss in excess of 5mm, no wonder foliage is showing signs of drying out and dying due to the high rate of transpiration.