Tuesday brought us 6.5 hours of sunshine that brought very warm air on a brisk southerly breeze, gusting to 24mph, that lifted the temperature to a maximum of 24.3C, which was 3.3C above the 36-year average. It was a dry day with the UV level briefly peaking into the ‘Very High’ level, the first occurrence since 5th August.
A dry, very mild night followed with the thermometer not falling below 15.6 at 01.33 Wednesday, which was 4C above average.
Wednesday morning heralded a distinct change in our weather. Initially, before the sun rose above the horizon, there was an impressive sky scene with broken cloud illuminated by the sun just before sunrise and blue sky but by 06.05 cloud arrived that covered the entire sky and rain began to fall. This was the front edge of an extensive rain band that currently reaches from London westwards to the tip of Cornwall. There was just five or so minutes of very weak sunshine from the eastern sky before the sun was obliterated.
The barometric pressure has dropped to its lowest since 27th June with a current reading at 0800 Wednesday of 1003.5mb. This heralds a period of disturbed weather as today the Irish Meteorological Office announced that Storm Ellen was approaching Ireland from the Atlantic bringing very strong winds and heavy, extensive rain. Storm Ellen contains remnants of Tropical Storm Kyle after it crossed the Atlantic.
