Author: Eric Gilbert

Thursday saw the UV level rise to 9.3, which was into the ‘very high’ category and not recorded since 10th July 2018. The south westerly breeze brought warmer air and as a result the thermometer rose to a maximum of 21.9C, which was 4.8C above the 35-year average.

The warmer air persisted overnight such that the thermometer did not fall below 13.9C being 6.8C above average.

Friday dawned with some brightness, but a predominately cloudy sky, with light winds after the strongest gust this month on Thursday with a peak gust of 26mph.

The first moisture in the air on Tuesday started just after 9am but the persistant drizzle arrived just after 10am and continued until just around 6pm, but amounted to only 0.8mm.

The past night was been very mild. The thermometer, having hovered around 13C for most of the day, rose during the early hours to read 16.1C at 08.00 Tuesday morning.

Thursday arrived with sunshine after the dreary Wednesday.

Another below average maximum on Tuesday, the fourteenth this month, with a peak of 15.9C, which was 1.2C below average. This was followed by a cold night when the thermometer dropped to 4.6C at 05.02 Wednesday morning, the coldest night in a fortnight. These lower temperatures were thanks to a cold front having traversed the country and the wind veering into the north west.

Wednesday saw cloud from dawn ahead of another weather front approaching from the west, the thermometer having recite to 8.3C at 08.00, the coldest morning at that time since 10th May.

Monday saw the thermometer climb above average again with a maximum of 17.7C at 12.27, before cloud began to thicken, which was 0.6C above average.

The first spots of rain were recorded at 21.30 with heavier bursts from 21.55 to 22.35 amounting to 3.4mm. This brought the monthly total to 58.7mm, which is just 2.4mm below the 35-year average.

A mild night followed with another above average night when the thermometer did not fall below 7.8C (+0.7C).

Tuesday saw broken cloud after dawn with light winds and the thermometer having risen to 10.7C at 08.00

After a bright start during the morning on Sunday the cloud built up as a cold front traversed the area producing the occasional shower of light drizzle, starting at 12.16, that amounted to 0.2mm.

The reduced sunshine and thick cloud meant a cooler day with the temperature down 5C on Saturday with a maximum of 17.2C, almost exactly average for May.

A cooler night was also to follow with the thermometer falling away to a minimum of 7.4C at 04.21.

Monday started with thick cloud but by 08.00 the occasional bright interval occurred.

There have been references in the media about the lack of rainfall for farmers ad growers, especially in the east. The year 2018 gave us 783mm of rainfall, which was a significant 52mm below average. The first four months of 2019 gave a deficit of 52mm against the 35-year rainfall average with May currently 6mm below the average. In addition, May with 5 day to run has seen the equivalent of 73mm of rainfall evaporate into the atmosphere.