The flow of Arctic air on Monday meant a very cool day with the thermometer struggling to reach a maximum of just 2.5C being a significant 4.6C below my 40-year average. Thankfully the air movement was light so minimal wind chill. As dusk approached the temperature slowly began to fall registering -2.5C at 20.00 and a minimum of -5.7C at 04.50 early Tuesday. This low was 7.0C below my 40-year average and the coldest night since 8th February 2023 (-5.8C). Interestingly, during the first part of the evening the air was unusually dry with 88% at 20.30 so at that time my car showed no signs of frost.
During the early hours of Tuesday, around midnight, I cannot track backwards further on the internet and we had calm conditions, the wind backed from the northwest to southwest. This significant change in direction began to introduce thin cloud and a slightly warmer air mass, but that did not stop the thermometer dropping to -5.7C at 04.50 Tuesday.
After dawn on Tuesday, thicker cloud be seen drifting across from the southwest that had lifted the temperature a degree, to -4.3C at 08.00. The recent anticyclone has moved eastwards, now centred over the Continent and we have two depressions surrounding the UK. Hence the barometric pressure reading at 08.00 of 1011.2mb, that was the lowest pressure since 5th January.