Author: Eric Gilbert

The Azores High caused much warmer air to arrive on Monday raising the maximum to 21.1C, which was 1.1C above average.

We enjoyed 3.9 hours of strong sunshine, predominantly in the morning, before cloud began to arrive from the west as another weather front approached. The UV level reached 8.7 at 13.51, which was ‘Very High’ and the highest since 16th July last year.

The cloud cover and warmer air meant a very mild night in that the thermometer did not fall below 14.9C, which was 5C above the 34-year average.

There were a couple of very light showers before and after midnight amounting to 0.6mm. Rainfall now totals 5.3mm whereas evaporation from ground and plant life is the equivalent rainfall of 53mm.

Tuesday morning was the warmest since 23rd August with the thermometer reading 17.0C at 08.00

Tuesday update at 18.30: late sunshine raises temperatures to 23.2C, the warmest day for a week

Sunday was almost sunless except for a very brief glimmer that momentarily triggered the sunshine recorder for 1 minute. Due to the lack of sun and heavy cloud it was a cool day with the thermometer only reaching 16.6C, which was 3.4C below the 34-year average.

Not surprisingly it was another mild night with a minimum of 13.1C being 3.1C above average. The variation between night and day was therefore only 3.5C, a minimal diurnal temperature range for a late spring day.

Brief, light rain/drizzle fell before midnight although as the previous night, the total was limited with just 1.1mm.

Monday has arrived with cloud and light drizzle from the remains of the weather front transiting from west to east so no sun by 8.00.

Monday update at 15.30: warmest day for four days with peak of 21.1C at 15.01 before thickening cloud obscures the sun and temperature drops by 1C.

Update at 18.30: UV level ‘Very High’ and at 8.7 the highest level since 16th July 2017.

Saturday was a much breezier and cloudy day with wind gusting to 23mph, only 1.3 hours of sunshine and UV dropping from a previous ‘Very High’ to ‘High’. It was a dry day.

The maximum temperature was down again for the fourth consecutive day with a peak of 17.5C, being 2.5C below the June average.

However, due to the cloud and approaching weather fronts it was another mild night with the thermometer not falling lower than 11.9C, which was 2C above the average.

Just before 6am this morning a narrow rain band arrived giving very light rain for about half an hour producing just 1mm. The predominantly cloudy sky means very little sunshine at the time readings were taken at 08.00

Sunday update at 20.00: maximum temperature of just 16.6C being second coolest day this month and 3.4C below average.

Friday produced 8.6 hours of strong sunshine with a UV level again in the ‘Very High’ category that raised the peak temperature to 19.9C. This was 1C down on Thursday but average for June.

The rainfall to date totals just 2.6mm but the evaporation from ground sources and plant life is the equivalent of 46mm of rainfall. No wonder our gardens are beginning to show signs of stress from lack of moisture at the hottest parts of the day. There appears to be little significant rainfall in the forecast. The driest June was in 1995 with just 12.5mm in total.

Cloud overnight meant anther mild night with the minimum of 11.3C being 3.3C above average. At 06.15 there were a few large raindrops that amounted to 0.1mm.

Saturday has dawned with intermittent sunshine from broken cloud that raised the temperature to 13.7C at 08.00.

Thursday started with very light drizzle amount to 0.2mm but as the weak weather front exited to the east the cloud thinned and intermittent sunshine broke out amount to 5.4 hours.

During the spells of strong sunshine the UV level rose into the ‘Very High’ category again with a reading of 8.6, last recorded at this level on 4th August 2017.

It was another warm day with the temperature rising 1C above the June average to a maximum of 20.9C, down 1C on the Wednesday peak.

With relatively clear skies a cool night followed with the thermometer falling to 7.0C at 05.31 this morning.

Friday has dawned with much sunshine and occasional thin cloud temporarily obscuring the sun, that lifted the temperature at 0800 to 13.8C.