Author: Eric Gilbert

The brisk westerly breeze on Tuesday, a cooler direction, meant that the day was cool with a maximum of just 8.7C, which was 1.4C below average making it the second coolest day this month, 8.4C on Monday. However it was a dry day.

The thermometer steadily fell during the evening to reach a minimum of 2.4C at 19.59 making it the coldest night this month also since 12th October (1.0C).

Yet another weather front approached the UK during the evening pushing its associated cloud ahead of the rain band thus the thermometer did an about turn at 20.00 and started to rise again. By 08.00 on Wednesday the thermometer registered 9.2C.

The rain began to fall again at 05.45 on Wednesday with a heavy short burst of intense rain at 07.35. The precipitation for the past twenty-four hours amounted to 8.5mm taking the total to 110.9mm being 124% of the 38-year average.

Incidentally, almost all my rain readings are taken from the standard Meteorological Office 5inch copper rain gauge. On the very rare occasion I am not at home to take the reading at 08.00, the automatic rain gauge is used as a back up but can on occasion give a slightly less accurate reading due to air currents affecting the precipitation captured as the gauge is one metre above ground level. However, yesterday there was an obvious problem with a gross under reading. On inspection I discovered that a bird had used the gauge as a brief stopping point and had left a deposit in the gauge thus blocking the progress of the captured rainfall to the tipping mechanism, but it was very quickly cleared and reinstated.

I noted that on the 22nd Thames Water announced that the hosepipe ban had been lifted. Perhaps no coincidence that two days earlier I noted that water had begun to flow above ground at Winterborne Monkton, close to where the River Kenner rises. The substantial recent rainfall, combined with minimal evaporation, will likely mean that water has begun to refill the aquifers.

Monday was an appalling day with almost continuous rain during daylight hours amounting to 10.5mm. That additional precipitation took the monthly total to 102.4mm being 12mm above the long-term average. The wind was also very gusty on Monday, a maximum gust of 33mph was recorded, coming from the southeasterly quarter until after midday when it slowly veered into the south-southwest.

Not surprisingly, due to the thick, low cloud all day, no UV was registered, the first time since a similar day on 16th April.

The maximum of 8.4C was 1.6C below average, the first below average maximum this month. In fact it was the coldest day since the 10th February (8.1C). The thermometer dropped away to a minimum of 3.9C, just 0.2C above the average thanks to the cloud cover.

Tuesday began with the cloud much higher than on Monday and the thermometer having recovered a little to 5.6C at 08.00.

After a sunny start to Sunday the cloud built up with a rain shower in the afternoon. The rainfall of 0.6mm was the only precipitation until Monday morning that took the monthly total to 91.9mm being 2.1mm above the 38-year average.

Sunday was a cool day with the maximum of 10.4C being just 0.3C above average. The temperature fell away considerably late afternoon and evening reaching a low of 2.8C at 05.16 Monday, which was 0.9C below average and only the second below average minimum this month after an identical minimum early on Sunday morning.

Monday before dawn revealed on the radar another weather front drifting across the area from yet another depression currently centred over southwest Ireland with an associated wide rain band. The first rain spots were observed just before 08.30 and by 09.00 were falling steadily. The air stream is currently coming from the southeast but as the centre of the depression moves northwards, up the west coast of Ireland, the wind is forecast to veer into the southwest late morning.

The barometric pressure has been falling for the last two days with a reading of 997.3mb at 08.00 due to the closeness of the depression with a pressure of 997mb at its centre.

Although the thermometer crept above the average maximum on Saturday during the limited hours of sunshine to reach 10.8C being 0.7C above average, the temperature dropped late afternoon and early evening to reach a low of 2.8C at 18.48. This was 0.9C below average, the coldest night since 30th April and the first below average night this month. The advancing cloud from yet another rain band meant the thermometer did an about turn and began to rise again reaching 6.6C at 08.00 on Sunday.

The couple of hours of rain amounted to 4.9mm that took the monthly average to 91.3mm, which was 1.5mm above average.

Sunday saw brightness initially but no sunshine. More cloud and associated rain is forecast for later in the day as another depression approaches the UK.

Friday was cool with a peak temperature of 10.6C being just 0.5C above the average. The thermometer dropped away to a low of 3.7C overnight, which was exactly average for November.

Saturday arrived with some brightness but thick cloud on the eastern horizon soon blocked any further sunny intervals just after 08.00. The barometric pressure has recovered with a reading of 1014.8mb at 08.00, a significant rise of 37mb since the low on Wednesday.