Author: Eric Gilbert

The barometric pressure indicated that the pressure rose slowly on Thursday from the anticyclone centred in the Atlantic a few hundred miles to the west of the Bay of Biscay. From that position it brought a north westerly air mass full of moisture absorbed whilst travelling over a vast the sea area.

By mid-morning the cloud was thinning and by midday sunshine was beginning to break through resulting in 6.7 hours of strong sunshine. By late afternoon the sun was intense lifting the thermometer to a maximum of 23.8C being 1C above the average and the UV level Very High. That peak was 6.3C up on the miserable, damp Wednesday and made it the warmest day since 26th June.

A mild night followed with the thermometer not sinking below 12.6C being 0.5C above the average.

Friday dawned with thick fog limiting visibility to 200m. By 07.30 the fog was thinning noticeably so that by 07.50 there was just low cloud and some brightness in the sky.

Wednesday was a cool, damp day under continuous thick, low cloud as a weather front crossed the country. It was a warm front but brought on a cool westerly breeze so the thermometer indicated a peak of only 17.5C, definitely not warm for July, being 5.5C below average.

There were frequent very brief episodes of very light drizzle that were not measurable so recorded as a ‘trace’.

Overnight, however was mild as the thermometer did not dip below 14.C, which was 2.8C above average and equal warmest night this month.

Thursday arrived with the blanket of cloud still stubbornly covering southern England although there was very brief bright interval just after 08.35.

Rainfall for July totals 18.4mm but evaporation is the equivalent rainfall of 38mm lost to the atmosphere.

The diurnal temperature, the variation between day and night, was just 2.8C.

The moist Atlantic air brought much cloud and less sunshine on Tuesday, just 4.3 hours. As a result of the cloud and a modest breeze from the nor nor west, the thermometer was a again below average (-3.5C) with a peak of 19.5C. The cloud also meant reduced UV with a peak of 5.5 being bottom end of High and the second lowest this month. It was another dry.

The thermometer fell to a minimum of 12.2C overnight being just above the average (+0.3C).

Wednesday arrived with more gloom and moisture laden air as a warm front slowly traversed the country. The barometric pressure has been slowly falling away, losing some 13mb since the peak on Sunday, with a current reading of 1015.3mb at 08.00.

Monday brought more cloud ahead of another rain band thus reduced sunshine, 9.1 hours, but around midday the UV level rose to 9.6 being at the top end of ‘Very High’ and not recorded since 1st July 2019. The reduced sunshine and modest breeze from the west meant that the thermometer was a little lower than on Sunday with a maximum of 22.2C, just 0.6C below the average.

There were light showers between 21.15 and 22.10 from the rain band that passed through amounting to 2.8mm. This brought the July total to 18.4mm when the 36-year average is 59.7mm.

Tuesday saw a continuation of the moist Atlantic air with total cloud cover and high humidity after dawn. It was the warmest night since 26th June with the thermometer not sinking below 14.7C, which was 2.8C above the average.

Under the influence of 12.8 hours of sunshine and very high UV levels again, the thermometer continued to rise all day reaching a peak of 23.7C at 16.06 on Sunday This was the hottest day since 26th June and 0.9C above the 36-year average under the influence of the anticyclone that was centred over the UK.

The cirrus clouds produced interesting patterns under the influence of high altitude winds. The wind was variable during the day but predominantly westerly being very light with a maximum gust of only 11mph.

A much warmer night followed than previously with the thermometer not falling below 10.4C although 1.4C below the average.

Monday arrived with variable cloud and bursts of sunshine ahead of a rain band arriving later in the day. Under the strong early sunshine the thermometer rose quickly to read 17.0C at 08.00 making it the warmest start to the day, at this time, since 26th June.