Author: Eric Gilbert

Under the influence of the anticyclone the thermometer edged a little higher on Tuesday peaking at 23.1C. This was 2.0C above the 38-year average bearing mind that there have only been two days in August with above average maximum.

It was the 27th dry day in August with the UV a little lower with a value of 5.2, towards the bottom of the High category.

The overnight minimum of 12.0C was just above the average (+0.3C).

Wednesday brought bright periods first thing but after 07.30 increasing variable cloud limited the sunshine. The ridge of high pressure continues to influence our weather with a reading at 08.00 of 1025.2mb, having been around that value for four days.

The barometric pressure continued high on Monday although the wind from the Northeast, a cooler direction, was much stronger gusting to 22mph. As a result the thermometer only rose to 21.8C being the coolest day since last Thursday and just 0.7C above the average.

It was another rainless day. The total loss of equivalent rainfall from the ground and plant life through evaporation in August is now 88m whereas the rainfall so far is only 18.0mm being 49mm below the 38-year average.

The overnight minimum of 10.2C was 1.5C below the average.

Tuesday dawned bright but soon cloud cover became total although the thermometer had risen to 13.5C at 08.00. The barometric pressure reading of 1023.7mb at 08.00 was almost exactly that logged twenty-four hours previously.

Under the continuing influence of the anticyclone both the maximum of 23.6C and the minimum of 13.0C were above average, +2.5C and +1.3C respectively.The peak was down a little on the Saturday peak due to the wind having veered into the east, a cooler direction.

Analysis shows that only two days in August have produced a below average maximum, 22nd and 25th, and then only just below, whereas there have been thirteen nights with a below average minimum.

Sunday was another dry day, the 25th this month, with the UV level of 6.3 at the top end of the High category.

Monday arrived with sunshine, weakened due to light, thin cloud at first. The thermometer had risen to 14.8C at 08.00 and the barometric pressure continues high with a reading of 1023.4mb at 08.00.

Saturday was a very pleasant day with the peak temperature of 26.3C being 5.2C above the average in a light breeze from the north then north-northeast, maximum gust of 9mph.

The UV level remained High. The ridge of high pressure continued bringing the quiet, dry, warm and settled weather.

The temperature overnight dipped just below average (-0.5C) with a low of 11.2C.

Sunday saw the sun climb above the horizon at dawn lifting the overnight minimum to 13.0C at 08.00. The barometric pressure at that time was 1022.2mb and the humidity reading 94%, the highest for over a week when we had the last rainfall.

The ridge of high pressure that has been with us for a couple of days meant another fine day on Friday with the thermometer rising to 23.7C being 2.6C above the average. The UV level rose to 5.7, which was in the High category after the much lower level on Thursday due to morning cloud. The wind had backed into the west for most of Friday, but very light, with a maximum gust of just 10mph.

It has been another cool night that saw the thermometer sink to a low of 8.8C, which was 2.9C below the average.

Saturday dawned with radiation fog on the River Og valley that initially limited visibility to 250m but under the influence of strong sunshine had evaporated by 07.30. The temperature recovered to 13.9C at 08.00 with the barometric pressure reading of 1019.4mb.