Author: Eric Gilbert

Saturday was the first of the improving weather days, even though the day was predominantly cloudy and dull. The wind was far less strong, making it feel less cold, the temperature rose above average with a maximum of 16.8C, logged at 13.33, being +2.7C that made it the warmest day since the 19th. Light rain spots were observed at 16.30 and again shortly afterwards as the cloud thickened and became very dark and lower, but the precipitation was not measurable, just individual rain drops on horizontal surfaces.

The sky began to clear late evening that allowed warmth to disperse into the atmosphere. As a result the thermometer fell steadily downwards with a minimum of 3.0C logged at 06.18 early Sunday before the sun rose and began to reverse the trend. This low was 0.7C below my long-term average that made it the coolest night since the 17th.

We welcomed sunshine after sunrise that began to steadily disperse the mist that had formed in the early hours, as a result by 08.00 the thermometer had risen to 9.6C making it the warmest start to a day at that time since the 21st. The air stream today will come from a southwesterly direction and be light.

The area of high pressure has extended and built over the past twenty-four hours with a barometric pressure reading of 1026.1mb at 08.00, up 4mb since yesterday. The anticyclone currently covers a large area from Scandinavia down to Iberia. It will dominate our weather for the coming week but slowly relocate over the Continent, as a result the air stream, from Monday onwards, will come from an easterly quadrant but thankfully will be light. As a result the thermometer is going to climb well above average as we enjoy many hours of strong sunshine.

The images all week will be from West Woods, just outside Marlborough.

Friday was a pleasant day, after a mainly cloudy morning and increasing variable cloud in the afternoon, that saw the thermometer rise to a peak of 15.8C late in the afternoon at 16.29 being 1.7C above my long-term average. Total cloud cover overnight gave us a relatively mild night that saw the thermometer not drop below 6.3C, logged at 02.53, being 2.6C above average. Not only was it the nineteenth dry day but the breeze was very light, the maximum air movement was just 9mph, couldn’t call it a gust of wind.

Saturday revealed misty conditions after dawn under a thick cover of cloud, visibility around 1,000m. The air stream was very light, the anemometer hardly moving, and appears to continue from the southeast but with little movement of air not a positive comment.

At the moment we are between two high-pressure systems, one to the southwest and the other to the northeast, over Scandinavia. As the day progresses it is forecast for the two anticyclones to merge and the wind direction to be variable, perhaps backing into the northwest late afternoon, however, it will continue very light. There is a large band of cloud running south to north just to the west of our area that will continue to limit any sunshine today but the high pressure will likely keep any rain bands to the west, other than perhaps the odd shower, but unlikely.

The larger area of high pressure from Sunday onwards will see much more sunshine and a rise in temperatures, especially from Monday for much of the coming week.

The images for the coming week were taken on a walk through West Woods, just to the west of Marlborough.

The northeasterly, cool breeze persisted on Thursday that limited the rise in temperature combined, with reduced sunshine. The peak temperature of 14.8C was logged at 16.55 following strong, variable afternoon sunshine being 0.7C above my long-term average. The thermometer began to fall steadily after 20.00, reaching a low of 3.6C at 04.42, just below average for late April.

Friday after dawn revealed fog that had formed in the early hours. Looking at the minute by minute trace of data the humidity began to climb just after 03.00 so I suspect that is when the fog began to form. The visibility at 06.30 was down to 200m but by 07.00 there was visible improvement with the range extended to around 1,000m by 08.00. The temperature had also seen an improvement having climbed to 7.7C by 08.00. The air stream today will be from the south east, a slightly warmer direction than previous days, before backing into the east again tomorrow and then the significant change when it will come from a southwesterly quadrant on Monday.

The ridge of high-pressure will shortly combine with an anticyclone just off the Iberian coast that will bring us the fine weather next week, but that is not before a weather front tries to make progress across the country on Saturday bringing cloud and possibly some light rain.

The forecast rise in warmth and sunshine is still looking positive, with a significant improvement from Sunday with temperatures rising significantly as the week progresses, probably up to Friday.

The sequence of images for the next few days will be of the extensive range of Bluebells in West Woods, near Marlborough

The depression produced much cloud during the morning and early afternoon on Wednesday that limited the rise in temperature to a peak of 13.6C at 17.08, outside it feet very chilly. Variable sun broke through after 14.00 with increasing strength thus the maximum late in the afternoon being just below average. The improvement was due to the centre of the depression easing away and the pressure beginning to rise behind it. The humidity remained high after the overnight rain with minimal evaporation. The UV peak of 4.6 was in the ‘High’ category, logged at 14.05 when the sun first broke through. The overnight cloud again produced a mild night with a low of 7.6C, logged at 00.48, just after midnight, being 3.9C above average.

Thursday revealed another cloudy start to the new day, this time the light northeasterly breeze has dragged in cloud from the cool north sea, although the depression to the west is very close. The barometric pressure has risen significantly over the past twenty-four hours, a reading of 1022.1mb at 08.00 was a rise of 15mb.

The ridge of high pressure built yesterday and overnight that will over the weekday develop into a larger area of high pressure bringing dry and increasingly warm days, especially after the weekend.

The useful rainfall during Tuesday night was very welcome by gardeners. There is a possibility of light rain on Saturday as a weather front edges in but very little indication of any more rain likely during the next week as the anticyclone builds.

Tuesday brought us a very pleasant day with much sunshine that boosted the temperature to reach a maximum of 16.2C at 14.26, being 2.1C above my long-term average, before thin cloud began to drift across ahead of the depression moving towards the UK. There was a noticeable thickening of cloud during the evening and the first spots of rain from the weather-front were observed at 23.15. The steady rain began shortly after 23.30 with heavier bursts at 01.15, 02.45 and 05.00, that eventually amounted to 8.6mm. This was the heaviest daily rainfall since 26th February (10.8mm). The last of the steady rain ceased just after 05.30 with a few reluctant rain drops over the next hour or so from the hang back of cloud. The low of 8.2C, logged at 05.27 early Wednesday was 4.5C above average. The rain overnight was very welcome to gardeners as it had time to be absorbed by the very dry ground rather than during daylight hours when some of it would have quickly evaporated. The monthly precipitation total is now 11.7mm against the 41-year average of 57.6mm.

Wednesday after dawn revealed very low, thick cloud from the hang back of cloud from the depression that is slowly drifting southeastwards across the Channel towards the Continent.

I mentioned a couple of days ago that the forecast track of the Jet Stream indicated it beginning to loop north of the UK that would indicate a warmer period under higher barometric pressure. The latest charts indicate that a ridge will develop on Thursday and subsequently build, that will bring warmer and dry weather for most of next week. It will not be particularly warm on Thursday as the air stream will come from a northerly quadrant but by Friday this will change to come from a more southerly quadrant with subsequent higher temperatures over the next few days.