Author: Eric Gilbert

The breeze on Wednesday originated in the far north and was brought down on a light northerly drift, called an Arctic Maritime Airmass, having originated in the Arctic and travelled over a large area of sea.

As a result of the very cold air the thermometer struggled to get to 4.1C which was 4.0C below the December average. There was very welcome sunshine in the morning but cloud drifted across after midday so that by 13.10 the sun had all but disappeared. The breeze was light with a maximum gust of 10mph thus windchill was minimal.

By 13.30 the thermometer had already begun to fall and continued until it reached a minimum of -6.1C at 04.52 on Thursday morning. The low was a significant 8.6C below the 38-year average and the coldest night since 21st/22nd January 2022 (-6.4C). The record for the coldest December was set on December 20th 1999 when the thermometer dropped to 13.5C.

The Arctic air is due to a large area of low-pressure over Scandinavia, which as it circulates anticlockwise produces a northerly wind direction. The nearness of the depression has given a barometric pressure reading of 1014.0mb, down 10mb since this time yesterday

The temperature on Tuesday only reached 5.7C for a brief period, which was 2.4C below the 38-year average. The sun broke through briefly in the afternoon, which was a welcome site after so many days with persistent thick cloud.

The wind continued from the northeast then north-northeast during the morning but in the late afternoon, around 16.00 in light winds, backed further to come from the north.

With clearing skies overnight the temperature fell to a minimum of -0.9C by 08.00 on Wednesday producing both a ground frost and a brief air frost. The thermometer dropped below zero at 06.15.

Wednesday arrived with thin, high cloud and some brightness with the promise of sunshine later in the morning

Monday was another gloomy, dark day although it was the warmest day this month but still 1C below the long-term average.

Due to complete cloud cover there was no frost overnight with a minimum of 3.9C being 1.4C above the average.

Tuesday dawned cloudy but it was higher and thinner.

The wind has backed a few degrees and coming from the north-northeast and forecast to come directly from north during the afternoon. It is currently light in strength so not feeling quite so cold as previous days. However, that is about to change when the Arctic Maritime air arrives later today and stays the rest of the week!

With mist and very low cloud all day and light drizzle around midday, Sunday was a dreadful day. The wind continued from the northeast, still brisk. For the first time since December 25th 2021 no evaporation was recorded due to the very high humidity again and light drizzle.

The brisk wind meant windchill was a factor again so that it felt more like 1C outside for much of the day.

The thermometer struggled to reach 3.8C, being 4.3C below the average and dropped to 2.8C just after midnight at 00.04. It then did an about turn and began to rise again read 4.1C at 08.00 on Monday. The diurnal range of just 1.0C was exceptional.

Monday barely dawned due to the persistent low cloud so the day arrived gloomy with the wind still persisting from the Northeast.

The thermometer struggled to reach 6.0C on Saturday as the day was mostly grey with low cloud, although there was a very brief sunny period between about 13.00 and 13.40.

The wind continued blowing from the northeast and quite strong at times with a maximum gust of 24mph. As a result windchill was registered for the first time since March that meant outside in the wind it felt more like 3C rather than 6C for most of the day.

The overnight minimum of 2.4C was just below average for early December.

Sunday struggled to dawn under cloud that had thickened overnight and lowered, so a grey, miserable start to the new day.

The wind persists in coming from the northeast for another day so wind chill will be in evidence again. The barometric pressure continues to fall with a reading of 1016.7mb at 08.00, a fall of 14mb since the peak on Thursday, as the intense high pressure over Russia and Scandinavia begins to pull away.