Author: Eric Gilbert

Light rain arrived during the late evening of Wednesday but more so after midnight with another 2.8mm taking the monthly total to 29.9mm. After a cold start the temperature hovered just above 2C for much of the day but the effects of the next depression were observed as after 18.30 the thermometer began to rise very slowly as cloud cover and a shift in wind position meant that by 23.00 the temperature had risen to 5.9C. At the same time the wind direction began to veer a few degrees from southeast to south and began to rise in strength, a peak gust of 29mph was logged at 03.58 in the early hours of Thursday.

Thursday did not really dawn being very dark and damp as the new day arrived. The temperature had risen a little further to read 7.0C at 08.00. The next depression is quite deep with a centre pressure of 961mb at 08.00 and positioned just to the west of the UK but heading our way with more rain and strong winds. Our pressure reading was 1008.4mb at 0800, a drop of 10mb since yesterday.

Tuesday was a cold and murky day with the minimum of 5.4C being 2.6C below the long-term average thanks to the northerly airflow, but thankfully light, with a maximum gust of just 16mph. The thermometer dropped away overnight, under initially clearer skies, to reach a minimum of 1.7c at 06.26 on Wednesday. However, this allowed fog to form that began to get more dense after daylight dropping from around 500m just after 07.00 to 200m at 08.00.

The air flow on Wednesday will come from the southeast as the last depression drifts away and a much deeper depression in mid-Atlantic has the UK lined up for Thursday bringing much more rain. The barometric pressure at 08.00 was 1018.6mb, the highest this month but will drop away as the depression closes in. The thermometer read 2.1C at 08.00 so no air frost.

Although Monday was a dull and damp day with a daily total of 7.7mm of precipitation, mainly during the evening between 2130 and 2230, the rain band got stuck to the west when up to 85mm fell in twelve hours. In fact we were between a wide and almost stationary rain band to the west and a minor rain band to the east for most of the afternoon and early evening. A maximum temperature of 8.1C was just above the average +0.2C as was the minimum of 3.5C +1.2C at 05.20 early Tuesday. No UV registered due to the continuous thick, low cloud and not surprisingly no global sunshine that registers even in light cloud.

Tuesday didn’t really dawn as it was so dull and damp with another rain band approaching from the north. It will be a cool, damp day again with the wind continuing from the north.

Sunday saw the temperatures recover as the wind backed mainly into the south lifting the temperature to a maximum of 7.3C being 0.6C below the 39-year average. A minimum of 6.6C was 4.3C above the average due to the thick cloud cover that persisted overnight thanks to the approaching depression. Considerable rainfall was recorded overnight amounting to 18.0mm making it the wettest day since 1st November. (28.7mm).

Monday dawned dark and damp as the centre of the depression, that is running along the English Channel, throws up more thick cloud.The barometric pressure has dropped a considerable 17mb over the last twenty-four hours with a reading of 994.7mb at 08.00. The centre of the depression close had a pressure of 991mb. As the depression drifts southeastwards towards France the wind will back during the day to make a 180* turn and change southeast to northwest by late evening.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm dropped to 0.5C by 08.00 on Sunday but the warmer air has lifted that to 6.4C today.

Saturday was a very, very cold day as the thermometer so very slowly managed to get above freezing for just over an hour with a maximum of only 0.6C at 13.27, being a significant 7.3C below the 39-year average, before dropping back down to -0.6C at 14.30, then continuing further down to a minimum of -3.5C at 18.30 and hovering around that point until 22.00. At that time thin cloud was observed beginning to cover the moon that heralded the major change as by 22.30 the temperature had risen to -1.0C at 23.15 and +0.6C at 01.30 Sunday. By 08.00 on Sunday the thermometer read 4.2C. A very brief rain shower had deposited 1.4mm at 02.00.

Sunday dawned damp and dull with very low cloud shrouding the Marlborough Downs and Savernake Forest limiting visibility to around 500m. The air flow will today vary between southwest and southeast later in the day as a deep depression meanders towards us along the English Channel, but again very light.