Author: Eric Gilbert

The thermometer rose to 18.1C on Sunday, which was 3.6C above average during the 5.9 hours of welcome sunshine. The UV level was 2.6 being classed as Low, not surprising for this time of the year. The breeze was light during daylight hours, peaking at 14mph and from the north.

The clear sky overnight led to a very cold night with a minimum of 4.6C. This was 2.5C below average and the coldest night since 30th May (4.2C).

Monday arrived with thin, wispy cloud and the prospect of more sunshine. The anticyclone has edged closer with a reading of 1032.4mb at 0800, the highest pressure for a month.

The ground temperature at a depth of 5cm has dropped from the high earlier this month of 14.1C to 8.3C due to the cold night.

During the 5.6 hours of sunshine on Saturday, after the fog had cleared mid-morning, the thermometer rose to 17.3C, this was another above average temperature (+2.8C). It was also a dry day with the UV at its peak of ‘Low”.

A significant feature of the east few days under the anticyclone is the lack of wind. The past two days have seen a peak gust of just 8mph and for much of the time still conditions prevailed.

Initially the thermometer dropped away in the evening to a minimum of 8.5C but increasing cloud saw that rise to 12.8C at dawn on Sunday under cloudy skies and misty conditions.

The barometric pressure is still high with a reading at 0800 on Sunday of 1030.3mb.

Although the temperatures on Friday were much lower than on the previous two days with a peak 16.0C, it was still 1.5C above the average. The very light breeze with a peak gust of just 8mph, backed from the south to the north east late afternoon.

The sky must have cleared overnight as the thermometer dropped to 6.6C at 0710 on Saturday morning causing thick fog to form limiting visibility to 100m. Fog classed as dense limits visibility to 50m.

The barometric pressure is still high with a reading of 1029.2mb at 0800 so the breeze will continue to be very light on Saturday. The anemometers are currently stationary.

The flow of warm, moist air, referred to as Tropical Maritime, from the south-southwest pushed the thermometer to 20.3C on Thursday being almost 6C above average and the warmest day since 26th September and up 4C on the Wednesday peak. The breeze was light, just 8mph at head height and predominantly from the southwest.

The temperature overnight did not drop below 12.2C at 00.20 being 5C above average and up 5C on the Thursday minimum.

Friday arrived with fog again from low cloud limiting visibility to around 600m and in still wind conditions.

The ridge of high pressure has continued to build with a reading of 1029.8mb at 0800.

The 7.7 hours of gloriously warm sunshine on Wednesday raised the temperature to 16.5C being 2C above the 37-year average and the warmest day for a week. The breeze from the west was much lighter than previous days with a peak gust of 15mph.

Due to the flow of very warm Continental Maritime air the thermometer did not fall below 12.1C overnight, which was 5C above average.

Fog from low cloud arrived in the early hours of Thursday that after dawn limited visibility to 400m.

The barometric pressure at 0800 was 10215.5mb, the highest since 22nd September.