Author: Eric Gilbert

Wednesday gave us a bright, dry and calm day although once again the maximum of 4.5C, logged at 15.56, was below average at -2.6C. The thermometer hovered around 3.5C for most of the evening but just before midnight the temperature began to drop with a minimum of -0.2C logged at 02.14 early Thursday, which was 1.4C below the long-term average. The barometric pressure, having been dropping steadily for several days, changed little.

Thursday dawned slowly under low, thick cloud as a warm weather front crossed southern England. There was also light rain and drizzle with the wind beginning to pick up after so many calm days. The temperature had recovered to 4.3C by 08.00. The wind has now changed from North to southwest as the storm approaches.

Storm Éowyn has been deepening steadily and forecast to have an exceptionally low centre pressure later today of 938mb as it approaches the UK. The track of this intense depression is now forecast to head towards Scotland over the next twenty-four hours. The forecast gusts over our area on Friday are up to 53mph.

News Flash:

The European Storm Forecast Experiment has just issued a level 2 warning of possible tornados on Friday ahead of Storm Éowyn. They say the chances of parts of the south having the rare rotating weather pattern “cannot be ruled out”. The south of England is said to be of potential risk of tornados, especially between Bristol and London.

Apologies that the 2025 Data sheet could only be accessed previously by opening the 2024 sheet, which I was not aware of until today. My webmaster has now resolved the glitch.

There was minimal brightness on Tuesday morning that resulted in the temperature eventually rising to a maximum of 5.9C at 12.16, which was 1.2C below the average. Cloud built up after midday that limited any further rise in temperature.

Wednesday began with very misty conditions, humidity at 99% and a temperature of 2.6C at 08.00 as a cold weather front crossed our area, that should slowly improve in the late morning. These conditions are the result of the two depressions, to the northwest and southwest of the UK, easing in from the Atlantic. The barometric pressure has fallen to a low of 1005.3mb, down a significant 46mb since the 12th, the lowest since the 6th. As these the depressions move eastwards they have resulted in the wind backing into the north and northwest today.

The recent Arctic air over North America has been merging with tropical air from the Bay of Mexico producing a strong temperature contrast fuelling a very powerful Jet Stream, possibly as strong as 250mph. This will rush across the Atlantic likely bringing with it a very low-pressure system arriving on Friday that has been named Storm Eowyn, the fifth of the season. The forecast centre pressure is thought to be an exceptional 948mb before it reaches the UK. The most recent estimate is that the track of this storm will be to the north of the UK although the forecast is for winds to increase to around 47mph at their peak over southern England.

The brief spells of weak sunshine, after the fog cleared on Monday, raised the thermometer to a peak of 7.2C at 14.10 making it the warmest day since last Thursday and just equal to the 40-year January average. This was an improvement after four days with below average maxima. Overnight the temperature eased downwards to reach a minimum of 1.6C at 07.37 early Tuesday that briefly produced a ground frost away from buildings and the town centre. It was a dry day with the UV peaking at 0.7.

Tuesday after first light revealed broken cloud that was quite high being such an improvement over the last week when each day had began with thick, low cloud. However, the latest radar shows cloud increasing from the west.

There are two depressions in the eastern Atlantic, just north of Scotland and the other west of Iberia, that are nudging our way but still kept at bay by the recent very high pressure system that is continuing to drop away, another 4mb fall over the last twenty-four hours. The bar,tricpressire at 08.00 was 1015.0mb, down a significant 26mb since last Sunday week.

The recent Arctic air over North America has been merging with tropical air from the Bay of Mexico producing a strong temperature contrast fuelling a very powerful Jet Stream, possibly as strong as 250mph. This will rush across the Atlantic likely bringing with it a very low-pressure system arriving on Friday that could be a new named storm.

Latest: Storm Eowyn recently named for the storm approaching on Friday

Sunday continued the days of low, thick cloud giving murky conditions.The lack of any sunshine meant the thermometer held steady around 2.3C for much of the day but dropped to 1.6C at 22.05 before rising a fraction overnight resulting in a temperature of 2.3C at 08.00 on Monday. This produced an exceptionally low diurnal range of temperatures, the differed between daily maximum and minimum, of just 0.7C.

A thicker line of cloud passed our way between 10.05 and 12.15 that produced light drizzle. I also observed very small snow flakes at 14.15 and 14.30 also again at 14,45, which I think were just too large to be snow grains. The precipitation amounted to 0.9mm taking the monthly total 50.1mmm when the long-term average for January is 89.6mm.

Monday eventually woke up after dawn under once again the low thick cloud producing misty conditions that restricted visibility to around 500m.

Two depressions in the Atlantic with associated weather fronts are being head at bay at the moment by the recent high pressure that is slowly falling away but with still a relatively high pressure of 1019.1mb at 08.00, down another 2mb since that time on Sunday.

The end of the week looks as if there will be some really energetic weather heading our way with very stormy conditions as an extremely fast deepening low pressure system is forecast to deepen rapidly possibly forming a ‘weather bomb’ if it drops more then 24mb in 24 hrs, however, the forecast is for an even more rapid drop. These conditions are likely to be triggered by extremes of temperatures over America resulting in a Jet Stream travelling at over 200mph, on current predictions, that will rush depressions towards the UK. Friday is the forecast day when it is likely to be very stormy and very wet.

The pool of cold air trapped under the high pressure dome still influenced our weather on Saturday with continuing thick cloud and murky conditions. The thermometer eventually reached a high of 3.2C at 12.02 with no further rise due to lack of any sunshine, which was 5.0C below my long-term average. Any warmth seeped away during the evening to reach a low, unusually just before midnight, with 0C exactly at 22.54, which was 1.3C below average and produced a ground frost. The very calm conditions continued with very little air movement.

The dawn eventually arrived on Sunday, once again under low, thick cloud giving misty and murky conditions.
The high pressure is very slowly ebbing away, a drop o f10mb since yesterday but will continue to influence our weather for another couple of days.

There are signs that low pressure systems are developing in the Atlantic that will bring more changeable weather later in the week with possible rain and increased wind. It is possible that as they deepen they will combine forces resulting in much stronger winds that could arrive on Friday.