Author: Eric Gilbert

The thick, low cloud persisted all day and the cold Artic airmass meant another even colder day as the thermometer refused to rise above freezing with a maximum of only -0.7C. Any air movement was from the east with a peak movement of just 9mph. During the evening the temperature eased upwards to -0.3C then fell back again after midnight to reach a ow of -2.2C.

Tuesday after dawn revealed a higher cloud base also thinner than previous dull days. The breeze is evident this morning after very calm mornings and from the northeast.

The thermometer did not get above freezing at any time on Sunday with a maximum of -0.1C at 13.33, which was 8.1C below the average and the coldest day since 2nd February 2021 (-0.2C).

Very light snow was observed beginning to fall at 11.45 and became a little heavier until around 13.00 producing a light covering. The east December when snow was recorded was in 2020 on the 2nd. The snowiest December was in 2010 when snow fell on four days and stayed on the ground for eleven days.

The air movement was totally calm for many hours with a maximum movement of just 8mph, from the east.

The thermometer hovered around -1.0C for much of the evening until after midnight when it began to fall away further to a minimum of -4.7C at 08.00.

Monday arrived dull, grey and cold, with total cloud cover, which was very low producing misty conditions again.

We are still suffering from the Arctic Maritime airmass brought to us thanks to a low pressure system over Scandinavia, rotating anticlockwise. This depression is also blocking any movement from the west in germs of warmer weather fronts.

The air movement on Saturday changed from north to southwest during daylight hours as the depressions and high over Greenland repositioned. However, although the southwesterly breeze is usually warmer the air mass was still Arctic air that limited the temperature rise to 3.6C, although a degree up on the previous two days it was still 4.5C below average.

The minimum of -5.8C that occurred overnight at 01.12 Sunday was 8.3C below the average. Evidence at frost light would indicate that fog or mist occurred during darkness asters are coated with frozen moisture.

Sunday did not see the sun after dawn as on previous days as we woke to total cloud cover. The temperature had risen a degree to reach -4.7C at 08.00. The barometric pressure has been falling for the past five days and at 08.00 read 1008.5mb, the lowest since the end of November.

The Arctic airmass meant another very cold day on Friday with a maximum of just 2.7C being 5.4C below the average and the coldest day since 13th February. The high was recorded at 13.23 when the thermometer did an about turn and started to drop again registering a minimum of -5.8C at 04.38 on Saturday. That low was 8.3C below the average.

After the wet November we have now had twelve successive dry days.

Saturday arrived with clear skies and a temperature of -4.5C at 08.00.

The soil thermometer at a depth of 5cm read -1.2C at 08.00.

There was little breeze on Thursday with the anemometer only registering a maximum movement of 6mph. However, the Arctic Maritime airmass meant that temperatures by day and night were even lower than on Wednesday. The thermometer only rose above zero at 10.51 and reached a peak of 2.8C at 13.22 being 5.3C below average and the coldest day since 15th January 2021.

We did, though, enjoy several hours of brilliant sunshine under totally clear skies.

The thermometer began to fall again after the peak at 13.22, dropping below zero at 16.15, -1.0C at 17.10 and -2.0C at 17.48. For much of the early evening the thermometer hovered around -2C to -3C. But late in the night the frost deepened with a minimum of -7.4C at 03.55 early on Friday. It was the coldest night since 3rd and 4th February 2019.

During the dark hours before dawn cloud began to drift across from the north that saw the thermometer begin to rise again so that at 08.00 the temperature was -1.3C. First light revealed total cloud cover and calm conditions.