Friday 23rd October
Thursday was the last of the calm and very warm, dry days that saw the thermometer rise to a maximum of 15.1C at 13.59, before cloud began to build ahead of Storm Benjamin. The sun in the morning was very warm. The high was 0.2C above average also it was the warmest day since the 11th.
As Storm Benjamin arrived, name by Meteo France as they felt the greatest impact of the weather, rain began to fall at 18.40 Thursday evening and eventually produced a daily total of 8.0mm. The barometric pressure was falling rapidly during the evening at a significant 1mb an hour as Storm Benjamin crossed our region, with its centre over the south coast. The heaviest of the rain edged eastwards of our region, towards Reading and London last night. The minimum of 7.6C was 0.2C above average and logged at 03.37, early Friday.
Friday arrived with strong winds that produced a maximum gust of 27mph at 07.02 from my high level anemometer. Storm Benjamin is currently moving eastwards away from the UK into the North Sea and heading for Denmark. As it does so the barometric pressure this morning has been rising rapidly, at a rate of over 1mb per hour after a minimum of 979.6mb at 04.07, which was the lowest pressure recorded this year.
Conditions will slowly die down as Storm Benjamin leaves our country that will result in a calmer and drier weekend ahead but with temperatures depressed from recent highs as the wind will vary between west and northwest.
Interesting research!
Research from the Met Office has revealed that the most popular reason people check the weather forecast is to decide whether to hang out the washing. Almost half (41.4%) cited laundry as their main motivation, ahead of general curiosity in what the weather is doing for the day (40.6%), and planning outfits or outdoor activities (34.6%).
Other popular reasons for checking the weather forecast include:
• Travel and commuting (33.2%)
• Planning events or social activities (30.9%)
• Gardening or housework (29.8%)