Author: Eric Gilbert

The sun warmed a very chilly start to Tuesday for 10.48 hours, which was the sunniest day since 24th August. As a result of the sunshine and the lighter wind, maximum gust of just 13mph but still from the cool north east, the temperature rose a little from the very cold day on Monday. The maximum of 13.3C occurred late in the afternoon at 16.31 but was still 0.8C below the 36-year average.

As the sky remained clear overnight it was not surprising to find that an air frost occurred. However, not only was it colder than the previous night with a minimum of -1.6C, the freezing temperature set in for 5 hours rather than the 2.5 hours on the previous night.

Wednesday again saw glorious sunshine after dawn, if a little weak as it struggled through the thin, high cloud on the eastern horizon. By 08.00 the sun, having been shining strongly for nearly an hour, had lifted the temperature to 4.6C.

Monday brought us exactly the same sunshine hours as on Sunday (10.07). However, the wind from the north east was much clearer than from the south on Sunday so visibility was much improved. The comparison was underlined in that my solar array produced an extra 6KWH on Monday as opposed to Sunday for the same number of sunshine hours, due to the air bearing that much clearer.

The very strong wind from the north east reached a peak of 34mph at 09.27 and again 13.01 producing a wind chill that meant it felt 2 – 3C below the temperature indicated on the thermometer, which struggled to reach a maximum of just 10.8. This maximum was 3.3C below the 36-year averaged making the second coldest day in April and significantly 14C below the Sunday peak.

The wind very slowly began to ease down during the late afternoon and fell out completely for three hours before dawn on Tuesday. This allowed the thermometer to fall away to a minimum of -1.3C giving a sharp air frost.

Initially on Tuesday the sun was weak, struggling to pierce through the thin high cloud over the eastern horizon. However, by 08.00 the sun’s strength was increasing lifting the temperature just above freezing to read 0.9C.

The barometric pressure is currently at its highest in April, current reading of 1029.mb, as the anticyclone moves over southern England.

Sunday brought us another 10 hours of sunshine and another warm day with the very light breeze coming from the south. The thermometer rose to a peak of 23.3C, down 1C on the previous day’s maximum but still 9.2C above the average.

It was another dry day with the UV level down a touch into the ‘Moderate’ level.

The wind dropped out early evening but just after 22.00 it began to pick up as it changed direction abruptly into the north west. The wind increased in speed to reach a maximum gust of 36mph at 04.58 Monday morning.

The thermometer dropped away to a low of 6.6C, which was 2.6C above the average. However, wind chill meant it felt more like 3C.

Monday started with thick cloud cover from the weather front moving southwards. However, just after 08.00 the sun began to break through as the cloud cover broke up. The wind, however, was still very strong from the north east with another gust of 32mph at 08.23.

Update on Monday at 16.20: drop of 10C in maximum between Sunday and Monday with a peak of only 10.8C. That was 3.3C below average, however, wind chill meant it felt more like 8C.

The sun recorder logged 10.34 hours of sunshine on Saturday, the second highest this month. As a result of the sunshine and very light breeze, maximum gust of just 10mph, the thermometer eased upwards a little to reach a maximum of 24.4C, which was 10.3C above the average and up 0.1C on the Friday peak.

The wind fell out completely for several hours overnight allowing the thermometer to slip to a minimum of 5.2C, down 1C on the Saturday minimum but still 1.2C above the average. This minimum was a degree below the Saturday low.

Sunday brought more sunshine after dawn, if hazy, as on previous mornings. The temperature recovered to reach 9.2C at 08.00. The barometric pressure dropped 8mb over the past twenty-four hours, current reading of 1014.6mb, as a small depression slipped down the west of the country. There is a divergence amongst two main forecasters, Meteorological Office and MeteoGroup (used by BBC), that the depression might produce a blip in the sunny weather during Sunday afternoon.

Although the sunshine recorder logged 5 minutes less sunshine on Friday than Thursday the thermometer edged a little higher with a maximum of 24.3C. This was 10.2C above the 36-year average and the warmest day this month and also since September.

The sky was not clear blue as the high, thin cloud existed all day that reduced the UV level slightly to 5.0, just in the ‘High’ category and limited the high solar to the lowest peak this month.

Last night the thermometer dipped a little lower than the previous night with a minimum 6.1C at 07.05 on Saturday morning. The sun was obscured until 07.00 on Saturday due to a thick bank of cloud on the eastern horizon. As soon as the sun emerged from behind the cloud the temperature began to rise with a reading of 9.2C at 08.00.

We have only had one wet day this month when 2.3mm of rainfall was recorded. The warm sun and drying wind has meant that in recent days the rate of evaporation from ground sources and plant life has exceeded 3mm daily. The loss of equivalent rainfall through evaporation this month now totals 26mm.