Author: Eric Gilbert

The pool of cold air and the northerly breeze meant a cold day on Sunday so that the thermometer struggled to reach 4.2C. This was 3.8C below average and the coldest day since 2nd February 2019 (2.9C). The other notable feature was the lack of wind with a peak gust of just 9mph but for much of the day the anemometer was still or just very slowly turning.

No sunshine was logged under the thick cloud however it was a dry day.

Overnight the thermometer fell away to a minimum of -1.6C at 03.07 on Monday morning, which was 3.9C below average.

Monday after dawn revealed another dark and gloomy start to the day with low cloud producing fog that limited visibility to 200m. We are still under the large area of low pressure that has been with us for several days. This means that the isobars are far apart producing a slack pressure gradient with very little variation in pressure although 3mb down on Sunday at 08.00 with a reading of 999.1mb. Currently we are between two centres of low pressure one in the southern North Sea and the other in the Bay of Biscay. There will be a subtle change in the movement of air from north to northeast as the centres relocate.

Although we had a little brightness on Saturday the brisk northeasterly breeze, gusting at its peak to 21mph, produced a wind chill so that it felt at least 1C cooler than the recorded maximum of 6.8C. This peak was 1.2C below average but the minimum of 0.8C, looked at 01.41 on Sunday morning, was 1.5C below average.

Sunday arrived with the gloomy weather reappearing as low cloud meant fog limited visibility to 500m. The wind is a little lighter than on Saturday but still from the chilly northeasterly direction. Unfortunately we are currently on the north side of the jet stream thus the cooler weather will continue for a day or two. The slack pressure gradient producing light winds will persist as long as the current low pressure sits over or near the country, which has been the situation for the past few days.

The thermometer struggled to even reach 5.5C on Friday being 2.5C below average then falling back to 2.8C in the afternoon. The wind started the day from the west but backed into the south and south-southeast late afternoon and evening.

A weather front crossed the area after midnight that produced 10.0mm of rain, which started at 01.35 and lasted for over three hours bringing the monthly total to 17.6mm when the average is 91.8mm

Saturday arrived with a very red sky from a narrow band over the eastern horizon and full of foreboding for the coming day. There was a little brightness at first but the cloud cover was soon complete with the wind coming from the east-southeast.

The depression that has been with us for three days had its centre around the Midlands overnight but. will migrate southwards towards the English Chanel so the wind will continue to back into the east and northeast so another cool day is in prospect.

Thursday brought a wet morning that with overnight rain measured 5.3mm. The thermometer maximum was lower than on Wednesday with a peak of 6.2C being 1.8C below average.

Late afternoon, as the depression sauntered southwards, the wind having been very light veered from the southwest to northwest that saw the thermometer fall away to a minimum of 2.2C.

Friday arrived with thick cloud, but the base a little higher than on Thursday, with drizzle falling and the wind very light from the west.

Wednesday was another gloomy day without sunshine nor a vestige of UV light. The wind was almost stagnant for much of the day with a little movement late evening. The thermometer struggled to reach a maximum of 6.9C being 1.1C below average.

The thermometer fell away during the evening to reach a low of 2.2C just before midnight but encroaching cloud, ahead of another weather front then began to lift the temperature to reach 4.7C at 08.00 on Thursday.

The approaching warm front triggered the rain gauge at 04.45 amounting to 2.3mm by 08.00.

The barometric pressure has been dropping dramatically since midnight with a current reading at 08.00 of 994.8mb, a significant drop of 26mb in twenty-four hours. The projected jet stream indicates that an area of low pressure has developed over the UK and is likely to be with us for several days, circulating anticlockwise over the country.