Author: Eric Gilbert

Both the maximum of 18.2C and the very mild night with a minimum of 11.1C were above average with +0.7C and +4.6C respectively. In fact it has been the warmest night since 29th October.

Very brief and light rain fell at 22.35 on Friday and again just after dawn at 05.55 on Saturday. Sadly, as a gardener, it only dampened the surface with 0.6mm with no quantity and will soon be evaporated.

Saturday brought cloudy skies with the light drizzle falling at first but it began to brighten up after 08.00, with the sun appearing, as an area of low cloud drifted southwards.

With variable cloud on Thursday and much sunshine the thermometer rose to 20.4c being 2.9C above the May average. It was the warmest day since 24th September.

Yet another dry day with the UV level of 5.8 indicating it was High.

The minimum of 8.4C was 2C above average being another mild night.

The barometric reassure has slowly been building these past two days with the reading at 08.00 of 1026.6mb, the highest since the end of April as a ridge of high pressure begins to affect our weather. The anticyclone or Azores High, will continue the trend of more dry days with temperatures staying above average.

The thermometer rose steadily on Wednesday to reach a maximum of 18.9C, which was 1.C above average and the first above average day this month. The wind was a little stronger gusting to 12mph and from the west for the majority of the day.

For the first time this year the UV level rose to a value of 6.0, which meant the strength was ‘High’.

I was a little surprised to find that the thermometer had dropped so far overnight and much lower than forecast with a low of 3.9C at 04.41 on Thursday.

There was a little brightness on Thursday morning but no sunshine by 08.00 when the thermometer had recovered to 9.3C.

As a gardener I have been pleased to note that the soil temperature at a depth of 5cm has this month consistently been in double figures, today at 08.00 read 11.2C, which means there is more warmth to encourage plant growth, however, it is restricted by the lack of rain.

Tuesday, although cloudy, saw the thermometer rise higher than of, late with a maximum of 17.7C, however, this was 0.8C below the average.

Another dry day with the UV level still Moderate due to the persistent mist and low cloud.

At least to was a mild night with the thermometer not sinking below the average with a minimum of 9.2C, being 2.6C above.

Wednesday broke with total cloud cover but signs that there might be breaks in the cover as the morning progresses. It was the warmest start to a day at 08.00 since 1st January with a temperature of 10.1C.

The notable feature of the weather on Monday was the lack of wind as at its strongest I recorded a peak gust of just 7mph but frequently it was very calm. Due to lack of sunshine the thermometer only reached a maximum of 14.8C which was 2.8C below the average.

No rain fell, although it was close by with the UV level at 3.4 rated as ‘Moderate”.

The overnight low of 8.6C was 2.2C above average due to the cloud cover that acted as a duvet to minimise loss of any warmth to the atmosphere.

Tuesday was another cloudy start to the the day with low cloud persisting and misty conditions.

There is little rain in the short term forecast that does not bode well for farmers and gardeners after three months in 2022 with rainfall well below average.

April 2022 Review

The month began with weather more like late winter than early spring with below average maxima, some 6C below, and hard night frosts. The thermometer dropped to -5.4C in the early hours of the 3rd, which made it the coldest April since 1996.

By the 11th the wind backed into the south bringing warmer air from North Africa that saw the thermometer rise to 18.3C being 4.2C above the average.
The warmest day of the month occurred on the 16th when the thermometer rose to 21.4C, which was 7.3C above the 38-year average.

The weather made a major change from the 19th as a large anticyclone developed over Greenland, with its airstream rotating clockwise, that deflected depressions to the south over France and Iberia, the air mass rotating anticlockwise. This resulted in the wind coming from the northeast for 10 consecutive days.

The breeze from the northeast is much cooler so peak temperatures dropped several degrees with very cool nights. In addition, as the air travelled over the North Sea it picked up moisture and resulted in several grey, cloudy days, but no rain.

The final day of April was in complete contrast. After a very cold night with an air frost and a minimum of -2.4C the sun came out strongly for many hours that boosted the temperature to 17.8C. This was aided by a dramatic change in the wind direction from the persistent northeast to south then southwest with little strength in the breeze.

The mean temperature was 0.5C above the 38-year average.

The significant feature of the month was the lack of rain. The total rainfall was just 28.8% of the 38-year average or 41.1mm below. There were 22 dry days and only 3 days that the Meteorological Office describes as wet with 1mm or more of daily rainfall. The majority of the rainfall fell on the 6th with 11.6mm.

It was the driest April since 2017 when just 8.2mm was recorded. A number of the years since 2001 have been drier than average showing a downward trend for April rainfall. By contrast a deluge of 165.2mm was recorded for April 2000.

Set against the minimal rainfall was the significant loss of equivalent rainfall due to evaporation from the ground and plant life that amounted to 63.1mm.

I wondered why the output from my solar panels was less than the previous two years but on analysis found that solar energy was reduced this past April with just 91% of the long-term average.