Author: Eric Gilbert

The sub-tropical southerly air stream on Wednesday saw the thermometer climb to a peak 14.8C on Wednesday at 09.18. This was the warmest February day since 26th February 2019 when a maximum of 18.2C was logged. The temperature began to drift downwards after 13.00 to reach a minimum of 6.5C at 06.18 on Thursday morning.

A cold front passed over the area during the early hours of Thursday that brought the cooler air with minimum rainfall of 0.4mm.

The trailing end of the weather front meant a cloudy start to Thursday although the cloud was quite high and the temperature at 08.00 had recovered to 7.4C.

An intense area of high pressure has been developing over the Continent during the past twenty-four hours that has seen our barometric pressure rise to read 1026mb at 08.00 Thursday with the prospect of drier but cooler weather ahead.

The first signs of even warmer air from Iberia arrived on Tuesday with the temperature during daylight hours around 10 – 11C for much of the day and early evening. During the early hours of Wednesday the thermometer rose a little higher with a maximum of 13.3C at 08.00 Wednesday morning.

The minimum during the past twenty-four hours was 6.9C at 08.00 on Tuesday and the warmest, not during daylight hours, but at 08.00 on Wednesday, which was 5.6C above the average maximum. We enjoyed 4.8 hours of sunshine on Tuesday with the UV level rising to 2.3, not reached since 11th October and at the top end of ‘Low’.

The southerly wind was very brisk on Tuesday with a maximum gust of 31mph at 13.21

With a temperature of 13.3C at 08.00 on Wednesday it was the warmest start to a day since 18th October. There has been a consequent rise in the ground temperature at a depth of 5cm, currently reading 9.6C, not seen since 23rd December. The southerly air stream is now arriving from far south of the UK originating in North Africa and then across Iberia.

The sun began to shine quite strongly an hour after sunrise on Wednesday that saw the thermometer rise further with a temperature of 14.6C at 09.00. This temperature is around the April average maximum, not usual in February!

The air movement on Monday began from the south, as on eight previous days but around 08.00 began to veer into the north where it stayed until just after 16.00 when it backed into the southwest and then southeast. This was due to a minor depression over France changing its position. As a result, even though we had 2.3 hours of sunshine, the maximum was down a degree on previous days with a peak of 11.0C at 15.37, however this was still 3.3C above the 37-year average.

Late afternoon, under clearing skies, the temperature began to fall reaching a minimum of 3.3C at 21.58. Thereafter, cloud cover must have increased as there was a steady rise in temperature to reach 6.9C at 08.00 on Tuesday.

There were brief intervals of welcome sunshine between broken cloud after dawn on Tuesday with the wind now coming steadily from the south again.

The predicted path of the Jet Stream shows a distinct loop to the north of the UK, as opposed to recent weeks when it was to the south, from around Friday for several days that should bring drier and sunnier weather if colder by night.

There was very little sunshine on Sunday, just 0.4 hours, as a result the thermometer was down a little still 4.5C above average and is the seventh consecutive above average maximum. The southerly air stream continued but less brisk with a peak gust of 14mph rather than in the 20s as occurred during the past week.

A little more rain fell in the last twenty-four hours amounting to 1.2mm bringing the monthly total to 53.7mm being 14mm below the 37-year average.

The thermometer fell away to a minimum of 6.7C at 05.16 on Monday being 5.2C above the average. This was the eighth consecutive night when the minimum was above the 37-year average.

Monday morning brought another gloomy start to the day as the mild, moist southerly air stream continued however very little wind movement was observed.

There have been eight consecutive days with the air stream coming from the south. This is unusual as we are subject to frequent weather systems coming in from the Atlantic interspersed with anticyclones, of which we have seen few recently.

The southerly stream of mild, moist air continued on Saturday that raised the thermometer to 12.9C at 15.02. This was the warmest day since 21st December and a significant 5.2C above the 37-year average. There was a little brightness late morning that saw the UV level rise to 1.6, still in the low category but the highest level since 23rd October.

There was a little light rain in the morning and again overnight but amounting to just 0.5mm.

Due to the persistence of low cloud providing a duvet, little warmth escaped into the atmosphere overnight that saw a minimum of 9.4C at 06.15. This was the warmest night since 18th November and almost 8C above the long-term average and 1.7C above the average maximum for February.

Sunday started like so many recently with low, thick cloud and the southerly airstream light. A depression to the north west of the UK, rotating anticlockwise as they do, continues to feed the mild air from Iberia.