Author: Eric Gilbert

Sunday was another cold day, the coldest since the 17th, with a maximum of just 2.1C. This was 4.9C below the 38-year average and due to less sunshine than previous days and the previous extremely cold night.

The overnight minimum of -5.9C occurred at 08.13 on Monday being 7.2C below the average.

The ridge of high pressure, reaching from almost Siberia, has intensified further with a reading of 1038.4mb at 08.00. I had to go way back through the records to find a higher barometric pressure, which occurred on March 19th 2022. The ridge has meant almost no air movement during the past four days, Sunday was no exception, with an air movement maximum of just 2mph and from the Southeast.

Monday arrived with almost clear skies, some thin, wispy cloud again, with sunshine as soon as the sun rose above the horizon.

The thermometer struggled to reach a maximum of 4.1C on Saturday, due to the thick fog that only began to thin after 10.15 and not clear until just before 11.30. The thermometer rose above zero at 11.16 and reached a maximum of 4.1C at 13.54, which was 2.9C below the average, and then began to fall slowly until late afternoon. By 16.15 the thermometer read zero, followed by -1.0C at 16.50, -2.0C at 17.35, -3.0C at 18.28, -4.0C at 19.38 and -5.0C at 21.00. Thereafter the temperature slowly continued dropping to reach a minimum of -6.8C at 08.00 on Sunday.

The UV level rose a fraction again with a reading of 0.8, the highest since 20th November. The anemometer just occasionally was stirred to move, but very slowly wit a maximum speed pf just 7mph, with the air movement from the east, not seen from this quadrant since the beginning of December.

Sunday dawned mostly clear, some minimal areas of wispy, thin cloud. The ridge of high pressure continued to build during the past twenty-four hours with a pressure of 1036.4mb at 08.00, which was the highest barometric pressure since 19th March.

Friday brought evidence that the sun is getting stronger as the UV level peaked at 0.7, the highest since 3rd December. In addition, during the many hours of sunshine, the global sunshine total of 4.8 (100W/m2) was the highest since 17th November. This instrument registers at that setting in sun and thin cloud.

The maximum of 5.7C on Friday at 14.10 was the highest for five days but still 1.3C below the average. The thermometer reached zero in the evening at 19.35 before rising for just over an hour to +1.5C due to bands of cloud drifting across from the east. After that time the thermometer fell steadily downwards to reach a minimum of -3.3C at 05.51 on Saturday, which was 4.6C below the 38-year average.

The minimal air movement over the past two days has also been a feature with peak gusts of 8mph and 11mph respectively.

Saturday dawned with thick fog with visibility restricted to 150m. The ridge of high pressure has intensified again with a barometric pressure of 1033.2mb at 08.00, which was the highest since 8th July.

The wind from the northwest or north-norhwest meant a sight less cold air combined with man-hours of sunshine saw the thermometer rise to 4.6C at 13.46 on Thursday, which was 2.4C below the 38-year average.

The past night although frosty was not quite so cold with a minimum of -1.9C at 00.10 on Friday morning, which was the least cold night for four days but still 3.2C below the average. After midnight the temperature began to ease upwards to reach 0C at 08.00.

Friday at dawn saw banks of cloud on the eastern horizon but soon after sunrise the sun rose above them with weak sunshine at 08.30. A ridge high pressure will be over the UK on Friday so a dry day is likely with more sunshine. The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 1019.4mb, which was a rise of 12mb in the past twenty-four hours.

The several hours of sunshine on Wednesday lifted the temperature a little higher than the two previous days with a maximum of 4.6C but this was still 2.4C below the average. However, the modest warmth in the sun during the 10.55 hours when the temperature was above freezing, 09.51 – 20.26, melted the light snow cover and the frost in direct line of the sun. The slight shift in the wind direction, from north to north-northwest and northwest contributed to the limited rise in temperature.

After 20.26 the thermometer very slowly began to fall away reaching -1.0C at 22.45 but much further in the early hours with a minimum of -3.1C at 08.00 on Thursday.

Thursday arrived with thin, high cloud to the east masking any sunshine. The barometric pressure has seen a rise of 11mb in the past twenty-four hours with a reading of 1007.7mb at 0800 as the depression moved away.

The intense cold has reached further into the ground as the soil thermometer at a depth of 5cm has dropped to -1.3C from -0.7C yesterday at 08.00.