Author: Eric Gilbert

Tuesday brought us welcome, if limited outshine, totalling 1.2 hours that help to lift the thermometer to a peak of 6.5C being 0.6C below the average in the brisk west-southwest breeze gusting to 25mph peak. It was a dry day.

Overnight the temperature dropped to -0.1 at 01.18 Friday morning, which produced a light air frost that was quite pronounced visually after the many hours of rain during the previous day when everything was saturated.

Friday arrived with much blue sky and the promise of sunshine when the sun rises above the low cloud bank on the eastern horizon. The thermometer at 08.00 had recovered to 0.8C.

Wednesday saw the wind strength increase during the morning but the strongest gust occurred in the evening when a peak gust of 41mph was recorded at 21.35, just before a narrow but intense rain band arrived. Rain was light but almost continuous during the daytime and early evening but at 21.44 heavy rain began to fall for about ten minutes. Immediately after this event the wind dropped to almost calm conditions for a few minutes. The other notable feature was that the thermometer dropped rapidly 4.5C as the wind veered immediately from the south into the west.

The rainfall for the past twenty-four hours amounted to 14.9mm bringing the monthly total to 48.3mm when the 37-year average is 90.5mm. We were fortunate that the areas of continuous heavy rain passed to the north and south of this area. The barometric pressure dropped to a minimum of 978.2mb at 22.15 Wednesday evening.

Thursday arrived with patches of blue sky between the variable high cloud and dry with the thermometer reading 3.8C at 08.00.

Tuesday started calm but the wind began to pick up as the depression approached the country with a maximum gust of 32mph at 14.26. The mild, southwesterly wind meant another warm day with the thermometer again reaching a maximum of 10.6C being 3.5C above average. By 23.00 the temperature had fallen to 10.3C but dropped away a shade overnight to read 9.6C at 08.00 on Wednesday.

Rain arrived overnight and was moderate in strength on Wednesday morning under low, thick cloud adding 8.3mm to the total now standing at 33.4mm well bleep the 37-year average of 90.5mm. However, Storm Christoph is expected to add significantly to the total as the day progresses.

Monday at 08.00 started with a temperature of 3.8C but gradually during the daytime and overnight the thermometer rose to 9.2C at 23.00 and a maximum of 10.6C at 03.09 in the early hours of Tuesday. This was 8.2C above the 37-year average minimum and 2.5C above the average maximum.

Rain fell late evening and overnight amounting to 4.5mm bringing the monthly total to 25.1mm when the average is 90.5mm.

Tuesday arrived with total cloud cover and light rain falling. The temperature at 08.00 was 9.8C with a light southwesterly breeze.

Under a temporary ridge of high pressure on Sunday we enjoyed 3.9 hours of sunshine with the maximum temperature rising to just above the average with a peak of 7.6C (+0.5C). It was the sunniest day since 31st December with the UV level again at 0.7, the strongest this month and equal to the two previous days.

The thermometer fell away to a low of 2.2C at 03.13 early Monday.

Monday dawned with total cloud cover and a few rain drops, not measurable, from the cloud that was easing in from the west ahead of the next weather system. The thermometer had recovered to 3.8C at 08.00