Author: Eric Gilbert

Saturday brought us the last of the very sunny days with 9.6 hours of sunshine and the warmest day since 28th August with a maximum of 24.9C, being 6.3C above average, thanks to the last of the Mediterranean air brought on a southeasterly breeze.

The barometric pressure has been steadily falling away for the last two days as the high pressure that has been with is for over. week eased further away to the west and the effects of a depression arrived from the Atlantic. The first signs of this could be seen late Saturday afternoon as thin cloud drifted in from the west.

Overnight the first of the rain bands brought 6.8mm of rainfall between 3 and 5am accompanied by thunder at 3 and 3.25am. It was a very mild night with a minimum of 14.6C, which was 5.4C above average thanks to the last of the Mediterranean air.

Sunday started with a little brightness as the first rain band eased away to the east but the cloud cover soon thickened as a more intense rain band approached from the south west. The barometric pressure at 08.00 had dropped to 1001.4mb, the lowest pressure since the 10th August.

Signs of the high pressure slippig away to the east over the past 30 hours became apparent as the day progressed on Friday as the wind strength rose during the day with a maximum gust of 20mph, the strongest since 12th September. Although we enjoyed another 9.6 hours of sunshine the brisker easterly breeze meant a slightly cooler day with a maximum of 20.8C but still 2.2C above average as the air flow was coming from a warm continent.

The anticyclone meant the wind dropped out overnight in the past week but last night the breeze continued throughout.

Saturday again saw strong sunshine as the sun crossed the horizon that lifted the minimum of 9.1C, being almost exactly average, to 10.7C at 08.00.

The September rainfall total is still 7.3mm but the equivalent rainfall lost through evaporation has reached 43mm.

Thursday brought us another 9.6 hours of glorious sunshine and, although the wind had veered into the east, it was a warm day with a peak of 21.6C, which was 3C above average.

The breeze easing from north east to east during the morning was very light with a maximum gust of just 11mph when for much of the day there was little movement. The UV level for the last four days has weakened and rated as ‘moderate’.

The clear overnight sky allowed much warmth to radiate into the atmosphere with a minimum of 7.8C at 06.03 Friday morning. This was 1.5C below average but 4C warmer than the previous very cool night.

Friday saw the sun shining brightly as it climbed above the horizon and beginning to dispel the fog that had briefly formed at dawn in the River Og valley.

The high pressure, centred just off the east coast today, provided another dry, warm and sunny day on Wednesday with an above average maximum of 18.9C (+0.3C) and 9.6 hours of sunshine.

The dry weather continued with the September rainfall total still at 7.3mm but equivalent rainfall lost through evaporation has now reached 38mm.

The clear skies overnight meant another chilly night with the minimum of 3.8C being 5.5C below average.

Thursday saw the sun shining strongly after after it showed itself over the horizon with the barometric pressure reading 1031.1mb at 08.00 and the thermometer lifted a little to 6.3C.

As the high-pressure builds again over the country the quiet, dry spell continues. The last few days have seen little wind with many hours of still conditions, especially overnight when on two occasions gossamer three driving in the air have locked u my anemometer. Maximum gusts have on two days just reached double figures, 11mph on the 15th and 10mph on the 16th.

After a dull day on Monday, Tuesday saw almost continuous sunshine amounting to 9.75 hours. However, the wind having veered into the north tempered the temperature with a maximum of 18.1C in the strong sunshine, just 0.6C below average.

Wednesday arrived with bright sunshine after dawn that raised the minimum of 2.5C, that occurred at 07.00, to 4.9C at 08.00