Author: Eric Gilbert

On Friday the thermometer rose well above average (+2.1C) with a maximum of 10.1C at 13.19 before cloud built up again. The sunshine recorder was triggered for just 0.25 minutes and the UV registered 0.5, the first above zero in three days. This was the warmest day in December and warmest since 25th November.

There was a little moisture amounting to 0.3mm in very brief drizzle.

A mild night followed with a minimum of 6.6C at 04.30 on Saturday that was 4.3C above average.

Saturday dawned with a little brightness and very small patches of welcome blue sky after the recent gloomy days. The air is almost still again.

Thursday brought warmer air, after the brief cold spell, on a modest southerly and then south-easterly breeze gusting on one occasion to 16mph. The warmest time was overnight as the warm front brought thicker cloud and rain at 20.30 and in the early morning at 01.45, briefly being quite heavy, with a total of 7.7mm. The maximum of 8.9C at 03.15 on Friday was 0.9C above average, which was the first above average maximum this month.

Friday arrived with thick cloud and again little breeze, the temperature having dropped to 7.9C at 08.00 making it the warmest start to the month at that time.

Although Wednesday started bright the high cloud meant no sunshine and the UV level at 0. The cloud thickened as the morning progressed. The wind, a little more brisk than on recent days gusting to a peak of 18mph, varied between southwest and later in the day from the southeast. The thermometer rose to 5.4C being 2.6C below average. The slightly warmer air in the evening lifted the temperature to 6.6C and was held there for much of the night.

Thursday dawned with thick cloud and a low base that started the day very gloomy making the atmosphere misty but thankfully not low enough to produce fog. The temperature at 08.00 was 6.6C being the warmest start to a day this month at that time.

After the cold air that pervaded over previous days the wind backed into the south west predominantly on Tuesday that allowed slightly warmer air to cross the area. The thermometer rose to a maximum of 5.4C, still 2.6C below average but several degrees higher than on the two precious cold days.

The sunshine recorder logged 2.1 hours of sunshine and the UV meter rose to 0.6. There was little wind for much of the day as between 03.00 – 12.00 also 15.00- 18.30 the anemometer was totally stationery with one slightly higher speed of just 7mph.

The barometric pressure has been very slowly rising over the past two days and Wednesday will see a very short lived modest ridge of high pressure cover the area.

Wednesday after dawn saw a cloud bank easing away to the east followed by areas of cloudless sky. We might be fortunate to get a little sunshine in the morning before the evidence of another weather front, moving in from the Atlantic later today, manifests itself.

Monday brought the coldest day since 1st February 2019 when the thermometer did not rise above freezing until just after 11.00 and then struggled to reach a peak of just 1.8C being 6.2C below average. There was very little movement of air from the northeast, the anemometer barely turning and quite still for some minutes with a peak gust of just 6mph. The minimal air movement did not stir up the atmosphere so the fog, with varying degrees of visibility, hung around all through daylight hours.

A very cold night followed with the thermometer falling to freezing point at 17.58 and continuing downwards to reach a minimum of -2.9C at 03.00 on Tuesday morning.

Thankfully, at dawn on Tuesday, the persistent fog of recent days had dispersed and we were left with areas of blue sky between broken cloud with evidence of welcome weak sunshine by 08.30.