Author: Eric Gilbert

The thermometer climbed to 28.7C on Saturday making it the hottest day since Tuesday and 6.0C above the average. The UV level of 7.2 was again rated at Very High.

The past night has been the warmest for three night but still just below the average with a low of 11.1C.

The equivalent loss of rainfall through evaporation from the groud and plant life is running at over 4mm a day with 56mm lost this month set against the only wet day when 4.3mm was recorded.

Sunday arrived with cloud in the east that stopped the sun shining strongly until 06.00 when thin high cloud muted the strength until around 07.30 As the sun climbed higher the temperature began to rise rapidly so that by 08.00 it read 19.5C

The centre 0f the anticyclone has eased away eastwards, currently over Holland. This allowed the breeze to change direction on Saturday late afternoon from north to west and then south. Today it will have a more south-easterly component and beginning to bring in the very hot air from North Africa and Continent, having dropped out since 23.00 on Saturday until 08.30 on Sunday when there was a little movement.

Friday saw the thermometer edge a little higher with a maximum of 24.2C being 1.5C above the 38-year average.

It was the thirteenth consecutive dry day with the UV level at Very High. The breeze was light and predominantly from the north with a peak gust of 11mph but calm overnight.

It was another very cool night with a minimum of 7.4C, which was 4.5C below the average.

Saturday began with strong sunshine that lifted the temperature to 16.7C at 08.00. At that time the barometric pressure read 1025.8mb, almost exactly the same as Friday due to the anticyclone centred over the UK and only slowly edging eastward.

The thermometer only reached 23.4C on Thursday, which was only 0.7C above the 38-year average. The wind had veered further as the day progressed to come from the north, but light.

It has been a chilly night with the thermometer dropping to 6.7C, being 5.2C below the average, before recovering to 16.8C at 08.00 on Friday under the influence of strong sunshine after dawn.

The equivalent rainfall of over 4mm is now being lost daily to evaporation from the ground and plant life. So far this month 48mm has been lost with just 4.3mm of rainfall on the 2nd, the only wet day this month.

The barometric pressure is beginning to rise as the anticyclone centres over or near the UK. The current pressure at 08.00 was 1025.9mb, the highest since the 10th.

Wednesday, under a light northwesterly breeze, was cooler than Tuesday with a peak of 26.2C, which was still 3.5C above the average. The past night was also cooler with a low of 11.1C being just below the average.

Thursday arrived with strong sunshine after dawn that lifted the temperature at 08.00 to 17.4C. The wind has veered a few degrees and is predominantly from the north. The humidity of just 63% at 08.00 is the lowest since 16th June (62%) and indicates just how dry the atmosphere had become. The ground temperature at a depth of 5cm read 21.8C at 08.00.

As the last three days has seen brought consecutive days with the maximum temperature at 27C or above, Marlborough as experienced a technical heatwave.

Tuesday saw a peak of 29.3C being 6.6C above the average and 1.2C down on Monday’s peak. The temperature was moderated by smoke from the fires on Salisbury Plain for much of the morning that limited the sunshine and solar strength. The haze also meant a lower UV level of 6.1 rated as High. The calm conditions did not disperse the haze until after 13.00 when a light breeze picked up, maximum gust of 14mph, and from the Northwest.

It has been a very warm night with the temperature not dropping below 18.1C logged at 05.35. This was 6.2C above the average and the warmest night since 13th August 2020 ((19.4C)

Wednesday arrived with cloud in the eastern sky that limited sunshine until after 08.00. The thermometer read 20.2C at 08.00 and the ground temperature at a depth of 5cm read 23.9C