Author: Eric Gilbert

After so many wet days it was a treat to have a dry day and enjoy 9.1 hours of sunshine on Tuesday as the high pressure exerted itself. The UV level, for just half an hour between 1230 and 1300, rose to Very High, the highest this month. Under lighter winds and the strong sunshine the thermometer rose to 23.9C being 2.8C above average and the highest since 26th July.

With much clearer skies overnight the thermometer dropped away to 9.6C, which was 2.1C below average.

Wednesday was initially overcast but just after 0730 the sun began to teak through intermittently.

The barometric pressure at 0800 read 1018.8mb, the highest in two weeks.

Sunshine hours were down again on Monday with 5.1 hours but the limited sun, and UV rated High for an hour, pushed the temperature just above average with a peak of 21.3C (+0.1C).

More rain fell again, especially in the early evening, adding anther 8.1mm to the monthly total that now stands at 43.0mm when the average is 66.9mm.

A clearing sky overnight meant the thermometer fell below average (-0.8C) with a low of 10.9C), which meant fog formed. At dawn on Tuesday a fog bank could be seen to the north of Marlborough with the sun struggling to break through the misty conditions. Just after 0715 brief periods of brightness appeared but no continues sunshine.

A ridge of high pressure has been easing in overnight that should dampen out the shower activity on Tuesday and hopefully give is more sunshine. The barometric pressure at 0800 was 1015.6mb and rising, the highest this month.

A look at the temperature graphs for Spring on this website, as an example, clearly shows what has been happening locally and underlines the commentary in the climate change report that was published yesterday

A mainly overcast and wet day on Sunday, with just a little sunshine in the afternoon, meant a cool day with the thermometer peaking at 2.4C below average with a maximum of only 18.7C. Rainfall, mainly in the morning amounted to 2.1mm.

At least the cloud cover overnight meant a mild night with the low 1.1C above average with a minimum of 12.8C.

With the barometric pressure slowly rising as the centre of the depression moves into the northern North Sea, Monday saw the cloud a little higher and a dry start to the day.

After a bright morning with limited sunshine the cloud built up again and showers occurred in the afternoon and evening. However, a major rain area arrived in the early hours of Sunday, starting just after 0500, lasting nearly three hours that brought the daily rainfall total to 10.1mm making it the wettest day since 5th July when 10.1mm was also recorded. This additional rainfall brought the monthly total to33.8mm when the average is 66.9mm

The peak temperature of 19.6C was again below average (-1.5C) although due to the cloud the minimum of 12.0C was just above (+0.3C).

Sunday at first light was gloomy and dark under the thick and low cloud that deposited much rain but briefly eased just before 0800.

The unsettled weather continued on Friday with seven claps of thunder heard between 1714 and 1729. Earlier in the day 6 hours of sunshine lifted the temperature to 21.0C, just below average. During the thunderstorm moderate rain fell for half an hour producing 5.0mm of rainfall that brought the monthly total to 22.7mm when the 37-year average is 66.9mm.

Overnight the temperature fell to about average with a low of 11.8C.

Saturday brought brief glimpses of brightness after 0730 that lifted the thermometer to 13.3C at 0800.

The depression has moved very little in the past twenty four hours with its centre just east of Belfast so the south to southwest wind continues bringing more showers. The barometric pressure read 996.6mb at 08.00.