Author: Eric Gilbert

We enjoyed 4.8 hours of welcome sunshine on Wednesday, that in lighter winds still from the northeast, saw the thermometer crawl above zero for several hours. The maximum temperature of 1.9C was reached at 13.13 being 5.8C below average, before thicker cloud arrived.

There were several very light snow flurries during daylight hours with the UV level of 1.2 the highest since 5th November rated as ‘Low’.

Overnight the thermometer dropped steadily to reach a minimum of -4.6C at 03.56 before rising a degree as thin cloud drifted across and a resultant rise in humidity. This minimum was 6.1C below the 37-year average and the coldest day since 3rd February 2019 when the extremely low temperature of -11.3C was recorded.

Thursday arrived with a mainly cloudy sky and the occasional bright interval, the thermometer having risen to -3.4C at 08.00. The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm dropped further in the past twenty-four hours to read -1.8C at 08.00.

Tuesday was the coldest day since 1st March 2018 (Beast from the East with -2.0C maximum) as the thermometer did not get above freezing all day with a maximum of only -0.2C. The wind from the north east continued strong all day but less brisk, The maximum gusts over the last three days have been 35mph, 29mph and 27mph respectively.

The sunshine was minimal, just 0.5 hours under many cloudy skies, with the UV level reading of 0.9, which is described as ‘Low”. There were frequent snow flurries during daylight hours with a more persistent shower of light dry snow between 1230 and 1340 that melted away under solar radiation, not sunshine, in the afternoon.

The minimum of -2.9C was identical to the previous night being 4.6C below the 37-year February average.

Wednesday, thankfully, arrived with clear skies and sunshine after sunrise. Joint centres of high pressure, one over Scandinavia and the other off the eastern coast of Iceland, continue to feed a north easterly flow of cold air. The barometric pressure at 08.00 was 1013.8mb, the highest since 26th January. The wind has subsided further although the wind chill at 08.00 meant it felt more like -4C outside.

The intense cold has reached further into the ground with a temperature of -1.4C at a depth of 5cm, yesterday was -0.7C.

The cold air from the Ukraine and Black Sea area continued to be blasted across the region on Monday from the north east with the wind often gusting well over 20mph and a maximum gust of 29mph. The thermometer very slowly moved upwards and reached above freezing for just over half an hour with a maximum of only 0.4C at 14.07, which was the coldest day since 1st February 2019 (0.5C). However, much colder days were recorded on 6th and 19th December 2010 when the thermometer did not rise above -2.2C.

The significant feature during the past twenty-four hours has not only been the wind strength but the wind chill factor. Monday began with it feeling outside more like -5C and at the less cold part of the day was still registering -2.5C. Very light snow flurries occurred frequently during daylight hours but not measurable so recorded as a trace. Some areas of thin lying snow melted away in the 1.8 hours of sunshine and later, when the sun disappeared, under the effect of solar radiation.

Overnight the thermometer to -2.9C at 03.45.

At 08.00 on Tuesday the thermometer registered -2.2C and wind chill of-4.2C. By 09.00 the cloud was showing signs of thinning with breaks occurring that allowed brief bright intervals to occur. After a lull in the wind strength in the early hours by 09.00 it had picked up again but not quite as strong as on Monday. The cold is now penetrating deep into the ground with a temperature of -0.7C at a depth of 5cm.

The blast of cold air from the Ukraine and Black Sea area meant a cold day and night on Sunday.The wind from the north northeast, frequently gusting between 25 to 30mph, with a maximum gust of 35mph at 11.49, produced a wind chill. The maximum temperature of 3.4C was 4.3C below the 37-year average but the wind chill day meant it felt more like -1C.

The strong, gusty wind from the north east continued overnight as the thermometer fell away to a minimum of -2.4C whilst the significant wind chill meant at dawn that it felt more like -6.3C.

The humidity on Sunday afternoon and overnight has been restively low hovering around the low 80% instead of the usual high 90s, so it was not surprising to find that the light shower of snow in the early morning was dry, powdery snow blown around in the wind still gusting to 30mph. The melted snow from the funnel of the rain gauge amounted to 0.2mm of precipitation. This was the best estimate as the snow was blown around leaving some areas clear and others with a light accumulation as it drifted in the strong wind.

Monday arrived with broken cloud and occasional bursts of sunshine after 08.30 as the sun rose above the cloud bank on the eastern horizon.

The wind veered into the north just after dawn on Saturday but was very light for much of the day. The breeze from this direction is much colder and as a result the maximum of 7.4C was the first day this month the thermometer that did not climb above the 37-year average being 0.3C below. During the evening the wind strength increased a little but picked up strength in the early hours of Sunday with a maximum gust of 28mph at 05.35 and from the north east.

We did enjoy 3.7 hours of sunshine on Saturday, the sunniest day since 25th January, with the UV level inching upwards again with a peak reading of 1.2 being in the ‘mid low’ category.

There were a couple of very light showers overnight, the heaviest of which triggered the automatic rain gauge at 00.45. The daily rainfall, as measured in the Meteorological standard 5″ copper rain gauge was 1.4mm.

There was little evidence of this rainfall after dawn on Sunday due to the stronger, drier wind with humidity of 87% at 08.00 the lowest since the end of January. The sky was full of thick cloud driven on the north easterly wind that produced a wind chill so that although the thermometer read 1.6C at 08.00 it felt more like -1.4C.