Author: Eric Gilbert

On Sunday the lighter southerly air stream, maximum gust of 23mph, and sunshine in the afternoon, raised the maximum temperature to 12.1C being 1.6C above the average.

The clearer skies overnight allowed the warmth to dissipate into the atmosphere producing an air frost with a minimum of -0.1C at 07.25 on Monday.

Monday arrived with variable sunshine and the thermometer having recovered to 1.8C at 08.00. Under a temporary ridge of high pressure the barometric pressure has risen over the past day with a reading of 1023.3mb at 08.00.

Both maximum by day and minimum by night were above average with 11.2C (+0.7C) and 6.8C (+4.4C) respectively due to the continuing southerly breeze. The wind has been quite brisk with a maximum gust of 32mph on Saturday at 15.46 and 30mph in the early hours of Sunday.

The rainfall that began just before midnight amounted to 4.5mm bringing the monthly total 26.2mm being 45% of the 38-year average.

Sunday provided the occasional very brief burst of sunshine but was predominantly cloudy with the thermometer having recovered to 7.8C at 08.00.

Due to the depression currently centred off the north west cast of Northen Ireland the wind continues from the south or southeast direction.

Friday saw the rain arrive just before 09.00 with light spots but mid-morning the real rain set in for much of the day with another pulse in the early hours of Saturday amounting to 9.3mm. That daily total brought the monthly total to 21.9mm when the average is 59.2mm.

Due to the cloud and rain, even though the warmer southerly breeze continued, the maximum temperature was depressed with a peak of 10.0C, which was 0.5C below the average. The overnight minimum of 5.6C occurred at 05.38 on Saturday, which was 3.2C above the 38-year average.

Saturday brought glimpses of sunshine after dawn as cloud eased away to the east with the southerly breeze still flowing.

Thursday saw the thermometer rise to 12.1C, the warmest day this month and 1.6C above the average. Likewise overnight, thanks to cloud cover from an approaching weather front, the thermometer did not sink below 8.1C being 5.8C above the 38-year average.

It was another day with the southerly air flow producing a warmer air current and a maximum gust of 21mph, the lowest for a week.

Friday dawned with total cloud cover as the next weather front had crossed the south coast. It associated rain band was just 30 miles south of this area at 08.00 and due to arrive within the hour.

With the wind continuing to come from the south on Wednesday, with mostly cloudy conditions, it was not surprising to find that both the maximum of 11.9C and minimum overnight of 9.2C were above average with (+1.4C) and (+7.0C) respectively. It was the warmest day since 16th February and the warmest night since 31st December.

The diurnal range of temperature, the variation between day and night, was just 2.7C.

It was another dry with the equivalent loss of rainfall, through evaporation from ground sources and plant life, exceeding 1mm per day.

Thursday initially saw a couple of brief bright periods but the day started with cloudy conditions as a weather front approached from the west. The wind, still from the south, is forecast to veer a few more degrees into the south-southeast as the day progresses.