Author: Eric Gilbert

Thursday brought us 7.77 hours of sunshine that, with light winds from the Southeast, lifted the temperature to a maximum of 12.5C, which was 5.4C above average. This made it the warmest day since 24th October.

Not surprisingly, with a clear sky overnight, the thermometer took a tumble producing a ground frost with a minimum of 0.1C at 07.46. This was 1.2C below average.

Just before dawn a mist began to form in the River Og and Kennet valleys that thickened considerably in the hour before sunrise but by 08.00, with the weak sunshine beginning to have an effect, had evaporated into a mist.

Friday saw the sun shining through the mist and fog as it rose above the horizon, that with high pressure still close, promised a sunny day.

Update on Friday at 15.55: southerly air flow from the Canary Islands lifts temperature to a maximum of 13.6, which was 6.5C above average. Another dry day with over 9 hours of sunshine.

The mild southerly air stream, from as far south in the Atlantic as the Canaries, raised the temperature to a maximum of 10.6C at 12.53. This was 3.5C above average and the second warmest day this month.

During the early afternoon cloud built up and minimised the sunshine but there was no rain.

The thermometer fell steadily overnight to a minimum of 2.1C at 06.46, Wednesday morning, that had recovered to 2.7C at 08.00.

The air became saturated overnight as the temperature fell forming fog that at 08.00 limited visibility to 100m.

Update on Thursday at 18.25: temperature peaked at 14.41 with a maximum of 12.5C being 5.4C above average. Warmest day since 28th November.

The ridge of high pressure on Tuesday, then easing eastwards to Central Europe, meant a flow of milder air from the Atlantic.

Tuesday saw the thermometer rose to 10.1C at 14.22, which was 3C above average and the second warmest day this month. It was another dry day.

We enjoyed 6.8 hours of broken sunshine with the UV level rising to 1.8, the highest since 24th October.

For most of the past night the thermometer hovered around 7C but just before dawn fell a little so that by 08.00 today, Wednesday, it was reading 6.2C, which was almost 5C above average.

Wednesday morning saw broken cloud after dawn with little wind.

Update on Wednesday at 17.50: southerly air flow lifted temperature well above average (+3.5C) with maximum of 10.6C at 12.53 before cloud built up to mask the sun.

Even though the wind, the lightest this month with a peak gust of just 13mph, had veered into the north west on Monday, the limited sunshine (5.82 hours) lifted the temperature to a maximum of 8.2C being 1.1c above average. It was a dry day, only the second this month.

Clearer skies overnight meant that the thermometer fell below freezing at 22.19, continuing down to a minimum of -1.4C at 03.29 this Tuesday morning.

Tuesday saw the sun shine hazily as soon as it rose above the horizon but thin high cloud is limiting its strength. The temperature rose a little before dawn to register -0.7C at 08.00.

Ridge of high pressure producing dry and calm weather with the current reading of 1032.8mb.

Update on Tuesday at 15.55: temperature eases upwards in light winds now backed into the southwest. Another dry day with over 5 hours of sunshine.

Although Sunday brought us 4 hours of sunshine the brisk westerly wind, gusting to 28mph, meant a cooler day with the maximum restricted to 6.9C, just below average, at 14.28.

Another 4.1mm of rainfall brought the February total to 59.0mm being just 6m below the 35-year average.

Clearer skies overnight meant a cool night with the thermometer dropping to 2.7C at 06.11 this morning, which was 1.4C above average, the coolest night for almost a week.

Monday dawned with broken skies (3/8 coverage)but with the promise of more sunshine. The very light winds are now coming from the north west.

Update on Monday at 17.55: temperature eases upwards to a maximum of 8.2C (+1.1C) in light winds and over 4 hours of sunshine. The first dry day in a week under a ridge of high pressure.