Author: Eric Gilbert

After a dry morning the rains returned in the afternoon of Wednesday and overnight adding another 15.8mm to the monthly total that now stands at 56.7mm when the average is 90.2mm. The peak temperature of 14.9C occurred in the early hours of Thursday being 0.2C above the average.

Thursday struggled to dawn with thick cloud. The wind has now veered from the east to the south so a slightly warmer day in prospect. The centre of the depression passed close by yesterday with a minimum pressure of 981.4mb, which was the lowest since 18th November 2022.

The wind was very brisk on Tuesday, gusting to a peak of 27mph but the many hours of sunshine meant that the temperature recovered from the cooler two previous days with a maximum of 14.7C, exactly average for mid-October. The cloud overnight also meant a warmer night than of late with a low of 8.9C being 1.6C above the long-term average.

The barometric pressure has been dropping steadily since the 16th and is particularly low today with a reading of 999.4mb at 08.00 Tuesday as Storm Babet is centred over Brittany (central pressure 988mb) and continues to produce an easterly air flow with brisk winds. The radar at 0800 indicates that the cloud and rain associated with the depression is approaching our area with rainfall not too far distant.

The anticyclone relocated over the continent on Monday resulting in the wind changing from the north to the east also on Tuesday. The Monday maximum of 10.5C was the same as Sunday (-4.2C) but the past night was much milder with a low of 8.8C so no frost being 1.5C above the average. The wind is now much brisker but it is a drier air mass with the humidity on Tuesday at 08.00 reading 84%, the lowest at that time since the end of August.

Tuesday arrived with some brightness although the sky was predominantly cloudy. The barometric pressure has fallen away as the anticyclone recedes and a depression, Storm Babet closes in on the UK. The pressure reading at 08.00 was 1015.6mb, a drop of 8mb since Monday.

Sunday was the coolest day this month thanks to the flow of Arctic air, on a night northerly, that restricted the temperature to 10.5C, which was 4.2C below the long-term average and the coldest day since 21st April. Overnight, under relatively clear skies, the temperature dropped steadily to a low of -1.3C at 05.35 on Monday morning. This was the first air frost of autumn and the coldest night since 25th April.

Monday saw muted, weak sunshine to start the day due tp much cloud cover even though we are under a high pressure system. The cold days and nights have seen the ground temperature at a depth of 5cm, read at 08.00, sink to 3.9C today compared to 16.8C at the start of the month. The anticyclone has repositioned so the air mass is forecast to come from the east today.

The light northerly airstream dominated the weather on Sunday being predominantly dry, just an occasional light shower in the afternoon, but noticeably cooler. The thermometer struggled to reach 13.4C being 1.3C below the average and the coolest day since 27th April. However, the clear skies overnight saw the temperature drop to a minimum of 1.1C at 06.15. This produced a ground frost, the first of the season, obviously just above the temperature needed for an air frost.

Sunday arrived with sunshine as soon as the sun rose above the horizon. An anticyclone just off the west coast of Ireland will maintain the light, northerly air stream, so an even cooler day prospect. This anticyclone has seen the pressure rise 11mb over the last twenty-four hours as it gets closer to the UK, with a reading of 1027.1mb at 08.00.