Author: Eric Gilbert

Saturday brought us 9.1 hours of strong sunshine during which period the UV level rose to 9.1. This reading was at the top end of the ‘very high’ category and not recorded since 10th July 2018.

As a consequence of the sunshine and light westerly breeze the thermometer rose higher again with a maximum of 22.3C being 5.2C above average.

The wind backed into the southwest overnight, bringing thicker cloud and higher humidity, that provided a blanket to minimise warmth escaping into the atmosphere. Therefore it was not surprising to find that the thermometer did not fall below 12.1C, which was 5C above average.

Thick cloud obscured any sunshine on Sunday morning. The temperature at 08.00 was 13.5C making it the warmest morning at this time of day since 17th October.

With the wind veering into the northwest on Friday and less sunshine (7.7 hours) it was not surprising to find that the maximum temperature was down on the previous day with a peak of 20.3C, still 3.2C above the average, and a dry day again.

Very little wind with a peak of 12 mph and the UV again into the ‘very high’ category.

A mild night was to follow with the thermometer not falling below 11.8C, which made it the warmest night this month and 4.7C above average.

Saturday saw broken sunshine after dawn but just before 07.00 a fog bank rolled in obscuring the sun and limiting visibility to 900m. However, by 08.00 this had almost completely evaporated and the thermometer edged up to 12.1C.

Thursday was the seventh successive day with a rise in the maximum temperature to a peak of 22.8C, which was 5.7C above average.

A dry day with another 4mm of equivalent rainfall lost through evaporation. The UV level, for the second day, reached into the ‘very high’ level with a peak of 7.6.

A mild night followed with the thermometer not falling below 8.4C being 1.3C above at the average.

Friday arrived with weak sunshine through high, thin cloud that lifted the temperature at 08.00 to 12.1C.

Wednesday saw the temperature rise again, well above average, to a peak of 20.9C (+3.8C).

The UV level was well into the ‘very high’ category.

Interestingly, the low overnight was exactly the same as the previous night with a minimum of 5.1C at the same time of 05.27.

Hazy sunshine greeted the arrival of Thursday lifting the temperature to 11.1C at 08.00. The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm at 08.00 was reading 14.9C making it the warmest since early October. The barometric pressure is easing downwards as the high pressure relinquishes its grip allowing an Atlantic depression to edge in from the west with consequent more, if thin, high cloud.

Update on Thursday at 18.15: the warmest day for a month with the thermometer reaching a maximum of 22.8C at 14.39, in light winds, which was 5.7C above the 35-year average.

Tuesday saw the thermometer rise further with a maximum of 19.9C, which was 2.8C above the average, under 11 hours of sunshine.

The equivalent rainfall from evaporation (57.4mm) of ground sources and plant life now exceeds the rainfall in May (55.1mm).

We have just a had a cooler night when the thermometer dropped to 5.1C at 05.27 Wednesday morning being 2C below average.

Hazy sunshine saw the arrival of Wednesday morning through thin, high cloud with the thermomter having recovered to 11.4C at 08.00