Author: Eric Gilbert

Saturday was another dry, sunny and warm day with the peak temperature at 16.06 of 23.6C, This was 2C and 5C up respectively on the two previous days and 3.6C above average.

After another dry day the rainfall for June still stands at 5.3mm when the 34-year average is 54.5. The driest June I have recorded since 1984 was in 1995 with 12.5mm then 14.4mm in 1996. With no rain in the current forecast for the next week will the record be broken?

Saturday night was less cool than of late with the thermometer falling to 9.3C, just below average for June.

Sunday dawned with strong sunshine emerging through a slightly hazy sky with the thermometer recovering to 15.2C at 08.00.

Sunday update at 16.40: getting warmer each day with 18.6C, 21.6C, 23.6C and 24.6C today.

The high pressure (1031.3mb) made itself felt on Friday with 15.45 hours of sunshine, the highest daily total this month, and also the highest daily solar energy.

Not surprisingly, the temperature by day recovered to rise 1.6C above average with a peak of 21.6C. But as occurred during the previous night, the clear skies meant a cool night with an identical minimum of 5.8C, which was 5.1C below the 34-year average.

Saturday dawned with broken cloud and strong sunshine that by 08.00, when records were taken, had raised the temperature to 14.5C with more continuous sunshine.

The wind on Thursday had already veered into the north and was brisk, gusting to 20mph. As a result of the cooler air from this direction the maximum was 1.4C below average at 18.6C. However, there were 12.3 hours of strong sunshine with the UV level again in the ‘Very High’ category.

On this day last year we were at the peak of a mini heatwave when a record high for June was set with a maximum of 32.2C.

Clear skies overnight and the cooler air meant that the thermometer tumbled to a minimum of 5.8C at 04.00 this morning, being 4.2C below average.

Glorious sunshine arrived as soon as the sun got up this morning that picked up the temperature to 12.1C at 08.00.

The maximum on Wednesday was 21.8C being 2C above the average but far lower than the peak on this day in 2017 when we were in the middle of a heat wave, which on that day reached 30.8C.

During the 3.4 hours of sunshine on Wednesday the UV reached into the upper levels of ‘Very High’ not seen since 16th July 2017.

No rain fell yesterday with the total for June still 5.3mm. With little substantial rainfall forecast for the remainder of the month will June 2018 break the record for the driest on record, which currently stands at 12.5mm in June 1995 for this station?

The wind veered from the west into the northwest just before midnight bringing cooler and drier air so that the minimum fell to 8.6C with humidity down to 74% at 08.00 rather than in the 90’s.

Thursday update at 16.45: wind shift now from northerly direction and brisk, maximum of 20mph, limited peak temperature to 18.6C but much strong sunshine in the clearer air.

Tuesday’s maximum peaked at 23.2C being 3.2C above average, but this day in 2017 was a scorcher with 31.4C

There was no rain yesterday. The wettest day for this date in June was in 2007 with 7mm. This year the June total is only 5.3mm.

Tuesday produced just 1.36 hours of strong sunshine yet this date in 2007 gave us 11.47 hours.

With an overnight minimum of 15.3C due to much cloud cover and warm air from the Azores, it was the warmest night since 23rd August 2017.

Wednesday has arrived with broken cloud and occasional, brief glimpses of the sun.