Author: Eric Gilbert

The 4.8 hours of glorious sunshine from a completely blue sky on Thursday raised the maximum temperature to 9.9C at 13.58 being 2.9C above the 37-year average. It was another day when the anemometer was statuary for most of the day, a movement of 4mph was the strongest.

It was the fourth dry day this month and the UV strength was 0.7C as on Wednesday.

With clear skies overnight it was not surprising that the thermometer fell steadily downwards to reach a minimum of -3.8C at 08.00 on Friday.

Blue sky greeted the dawn on Friday with the sun showing an appearance as soon aa it rose above the horizon. The centre of the anticyclone has moved away from central England, as a result the barometric pressure has been dropping for the past twenty-four hours with a reading of 1038.2mb at 08.00

Wednesday was remarkable for the lack of air movement. For many hours the anemometer was stationary with the maximum movement of just 4mph on one occasion. After a sharp frost the thermometer struggled to reach 8.8C, however, this was 1.8C above the average.

We enjoyed 4.9 hours of sunshine. The evidence that the sun is beginning to get stronger was evident in that the UV level of 0.7 was the highest since 2nd December.

The past night was very cold with a hard air frost that saw the thermometer drop to -3.3 at 07.27 on Thursday.

Thursday dawned with the absence of fog, thankfully, and the sun shining brightly as soon as it rose above the horizon.

Although the barometric pressure continued to rise briskly on Tuesday, it was another gloomy day with drizzle that amounted to just 0.5mm. However, the thermometer did rise above the average (+3.7C) with a maximum of 10.7C.

The sky began to clear late afternoon as the second weather front eased away to the east, that allowed the temperature to drop away producing a sharp air frost that depended further half an hour before sunrise to give a minimum of -1.8C.

Wednesday arrived with just very thin high cloud and the prospect of a few hours of sunshine. The centre of the anticyclone is close by, just off the west coast of the UK, with a reading of 1041.7mb at 08.00. This is the highest since that pressure was recorded on 17th December, however it continues to rise as the centre eases towards central England.

Although the barometric pressure had begun to rise on Monday the moist, dull weather meant another day without sunshine or any UV light. The southerly breeze was very light all day with a maximum gust of just 11mph. The thermometer rose just 4C during daylight hours to reach a maximum of 8.8C but hovered around 8.5C all night.

There were very brief and light showers on several occasions during the daytime that amounted to 2.4mm.

Tuesday arrived with mist and variable fog producing light drizzle that limited visibility to 900m. These conditions were due to a warm front crossing the area with more warm, moist air.

The barometric pressure continues to rise with a reading of 1028.1mb at 08.00 and rising rapidly.This is the highest pressure since 20th December.

It was a treat to enjoy 4.3 hours of sunshine on Sunday although the west to northwest breeze moderated the temperature so that the maximum was 7.9C being 0.9C above the average.

The minimum overnight was also above average (+2.1C) with a low of 3.4C.

The cloudy, gloomy start to a new day returned on Monday with low cloud and high humidity of 97%. However, the wind has backed into the south so will be a mild day.