Author: Eric Gilbert

Tuesday was another unsettled day with sunshine of 1.9 hours but rain in the morning and again in the afternoon amounting to 2.1mm.

The brisk south westerly wind, gusting to 24mph, meant a milder day with the thermometer rising to 10.9C being 3C above average.

Clearing skies overnight saw the thermometer tumble to 1.3C at dawn on Wednesday, which was 0.9C below average and giving a short lived ground frost.

Wednesday dawned with clear skies and the promise of much more sunshine as the barometer has risen 17mb in the past twenty-four hours, now the highest pressure for three weeks.

Monday brought another unsettled day with mixed sunshine and showers. With 2.6 hours of sunshine it was the sunniest day for a week but another 2.0mm of rain was added to the monthly total now standing at 123.5m, which is 33mm above the 35-year average. Although this is a large total for December, this month in 2013 produced 157mm, so 2019 is well below the record.

Temperatures by day and night were above average at 9.1C (+1.1C) and 5.9C (+3.7C).

Tuesday arrive with predominantly cloudy skies but less windy.

With just 0.6mm of rain on Sunday it was almost a dry day, but not quite, after the deluges of previous days. We have only had five totally dry days in December. The total rainfall this year currently stands at 986.5mm, which is 140mm above the 34 year average.

Both maximum and minimum temperatures over the past twenty-four hours have been above the average with 8.1C (+0.1C) and 5.0C (+2.8C).

The barometric pressure has been rising for the last 36 hours which will dampen out the showers and provide a drier day with, hopefully, some sunny intervals.

Monday arrived with broken cloud and almost still conditions.

Although the unsettled weather continued with more rain on Saturday we did enjoy a brighter period before noon with 2 hours of sunshine. Another 8.7mm of rain fell bringing the monthly total to 120.9mm, which is 30mm above the 35-year average and the ninth wettest since my records began in 1984.

Temperatures by day, at a maximum of 8.8C, were a little above average (+0.8C) likewise the overnight cloud meant that loss of warmth to the atmosphere was minimised resulting in a minimum of 5.6C (+3.4C).

Sunday arrived with broken cloud, the rain having ceased at the current time of 08.00.

The Winter Solstice occurred at 04.19 today, the 22nd of December.

Friday saw the continuation of the unsettled weather with no sunshine or UV level recorded. There were frequent showers by day and night amounting to 9.3mm. The brought the monthly rainfall total to 112.2mm, which is 21mm above the 35-yea average.

The daytime maximum was just above average (+0.3C) at 8.3C, just before noon.

The cloud cover and rain overnight meant a mild night with the thermometer reaching a low of 3.9C being 1.7C above average.

Saturday dawned with the last of the thick cloud easing away to the eastern horizon and predominantly clear skies in very light winds from the south.