Author: Eric Gilbert

Friday saw the welcome return of the sun with 6 hours in total. Daylight hours were dry but a light shower occurred just before dawn on Saturday producing just 0.2mm.

The wind, then coming from the west rather than northeast, meant a slightly warmer day although the sunshine did not raise the thermometer above average with a maximum of only 9.2C (-1.2C).

Initially overnight the sky cleared dropping the thermometer to a low of 1.2C at 03.50 but increasing cloud meant that the temperature recovered to 4.8C at 08.00 on Saturday. The cloud obscured the sun at this time so no sunshine or even any brightness.

Thursday was a miserable day being wet almost all day and the maximum temperature of 5.1C was 5.3C below the 36-year average. The strong wind, initially from the Northeast gusting to 25mph, produced a wind chill so that it felt more like 3C. The rainfall total of 2.8mm was modest considering that the precipitation continued almost continuously for eight hours.

The wind slowly backed from the northeast into the north around noon and later in the afternoon into the Northwest.

As the skies cleared late evening the thermometer dropped to give a minimum of -1.9C at 07.01 Friday and produced a sharp frost.

Friday, thankfully after all the rain, began with strong sunshine after dawn.

We endured over seven hours of rain on Wednesday that eventually eased just before 18.00 and amounted to 7.5mm.

The wind in the afternoon slowly veered into the north east, a direction that we have not seen since January.

The thermometer struggled to reach a maximum of just 6.3C, which was 4.1C below average. It slowly fell away overnight to reach 4.1C at 08.00 on Thursday, this was 1.8C above average. However, the wind having strengthened in the past two hours on Thursday produced a wind chill that made it feel more like 0.6C.

Light rain began to fall just before 06.00 on Thursday as a depression began to very slowly track along the English Channel bringing with it thick cloud and rain that pushed northwards to cover this area.

Update on Thursday at 16.15: strong northeasterly brings light rain all day and a maximum of only 5.1C. This was 5.3C below average and combined with a windchill made it feel more like 2C.

Tuesday was a dry day being the first dry day since 6th February. There was also 5.7 hours of welcome sunshine, especially in the afternoon when the hang back of cloud from the weather front had eased away to the east.

Temperatures were again below average with a maximum of 9.6C (-0.8C) and 1.3C (-1.0C) producing a brief ground frost and the same minimum as on Monday morning.

Sadly there was no sunshine after dawn on Wednesday as thick cloud from the advancing rain band had filled the sky.

Update on Wednesday at 17.45: a maximum of just 6.3C, which was 4C below average and over 7 hours of continuous rain that so far amounts to 8mm

Monday was predominantly dry except for very brief showers in the afternoon, one of which produced small hail. The precipitation measured just 0.6mm.

Temperatures by day and night were depressed. The maximum of 8.8C was 1.6C below average and the minimum of 1.3C was 1C below average and briefly produced a ground frost.

Tuesday, under predominantly clear skies, saw strong sunshine after dawn with the thermometer having recovered to 3.4C.

February 2020 Review

February got off to a very mild, if wet start, with temperatures well above the average on the west to south air flow but within days the wind veered into the north bringing drier but cooler weather, although short lived fog formed on the 6th and 7th.

However, the relative calm was broken as Storm Ciara approached the UK bringing gale force winds and rain. Wind maxima of 47mph and 51mph on the 8th and 9th respectively were the strongest for a month but no records were broken. Once again we did not suffer the extremes of rain or wind either, as did other parts of the country, with example 16mm of precipitation as compared to 177mm in Cumbria. It was unusual that the Meteorological Office yellow and amber warnings covered the bulk of the UK.

Britain is being deluged by “atmospheric rivers” delivered on the jet stream, the Met Office has said. Experts believe the west-east band of high-altitude winds is currently pointed directly at the UK for the first time in years, enabling a “conveyor belt” of non-stop rain. This has been exacerbated by relatively mild temperatures that have forced extra moisture into the air. It is causing streams of airborne water vapour around 300 miles wide approaching across the Atlantic before condensing into heavy rain as they hit hilly parts of Britain.

Hot on the heals of Storm Ciara was Storm Dennis that hit the area on the 15th with the wettest day of the month producing 21.5mm of rain in a day. This was combined with winds gusting to 46mph.

After the brief respite of three continuously dry days from the 4th to the 6th there followed 23 consecutive days with rain, three with totals in double figures.

The precipitation for the month was 148.2mm, which included ice pellets on the 11th, sleet on the 25th and small hail on the 20th and 29th. This was not a record but the third wettest February since my records began in 1984 with 151.0mm and 151.6mm in 1990 and 2014 respectively. There was an extremely dry February in 1986 when only 9.9mm was recorded.

Due to the moisture laden days from thick persistent cloud there were 8 days without any recorded sunshine.

The warm, moist Atlantic air meant many days were recorded with both maxima and minima temperatures above average. There were only 5 days during the month with below average maxima with the warmest day on the 23rd when the thermometer rose to a peak of 13.2C.

The mean temperature was a significant 2C above the 36-year average being the warmest February since 2002.

As regards the past winter months of December to February, the mean temperature was 1.6C above the average making it the fifth warmest I have recorded, extremes being the warm winter in 2015 and the very cold February of 2009. The rainfall total was 371mm, again not a record as 2013 produced 528mm and in 1991 there was just 94mm.