Author: Eric Gilbert

Friday brought us another rather gloomy day under the influence of much cloud, again brought to us from the North Sea by the continuing northeasterly winds, the strength of which was much lower yesterday, a peak of just 11mph.

However, the 9 minutes of sunshine late in the day did raise the temperature to a maximum of 19.3C, which was just below average.

With so much cloud on Friday it was not surprising that the UV level had fallen again, down to the ‘Moderate’ level and the lowest this month as was the solar energy.

Saturday has dawned bright with broken ad cloud and welcome bursts of sunshine after a mild night with a minimum of 12.1C being 2C above average.

Saturday update at 18.20: light, very brief shower at 17.10 and again at 18.05.

Thursday brought us little sunshine, just 10 minutes, due to the persistent thick cloud that also limited UV to the ‘Moderate’ level. The cloud limited the temperature to a maximum of 17.4C which was 2.5C below average.

During the afternoon there were periodic light showers that produced 1.4mm of rainfall, the first rain this month.

The thick, low could continued overnight making it a mild night with a minimum of 12.4C being 2.5C above average.

Friday started dry but heavy drizzle started just before 7am with the cloud base now covering the Marlborough Downs. Precipitation for the past twenty-four hours was 1.8mm

The contrast between Tuesday and Wednesday was quite marked. The maxima of both days respectively was 17.1C and 21.7C and sunshine hours of 1.64 and 13.08 hours.

Wednesday returned daytime temperatures above the average by 1C, which was a welcome 5C higher than the peak on Tuesday. Although not quite wall to wall sunshine it was a very sunny day. The UV level edged up to the ‘Very High’ level.

The northeasterly wind, as a result of being squeezed between high pressure to the north and low pressure over the continent was, although fresh, a little less strong with a peak of 17mph.

A mild night followed with the thermometer not falling below 11.7C being 2C above average and 4C higher than the minimum on Tuesday.

Wednesday arrived with thick cloud and at 08.00, when readings were taken, the influence of the nearby depression over the continent was seen as a brief, very light shower occurred.

Thursday update at 13.00: light rain has been falling for the past 20 minutes.

Although Tuesday brought us a little more sunshine than Monday, just 1.6 hours, it did nothing to raise much warmth as the strong northeasterly winds pegged back the temperature to between 11C and 13C for most of the day, only rising to 16.5C late afternoon. This maximum was 3.5C below average.

It was a dry day but due to the lack of sunshine the UV level dropped back to ‘High’.

More cloud drifted in again overnight from the North Sea on the persistent Northeasterly winds, still gusting to 20mph.

It was the coolest night this month with a minimum of 7.8C just after 5am, which was 2C below average.

Wednesday dawned with much cloud and by 08.00 there were glimpses of sun breaking through but no long spells with the thermometer struggling up to 9.8C, the coolest morning for almost a month.

Wednesday update at 17.30: today has been more like summer with a recovery in temperature, maximum of 21.5C, UV at top end of ‘High’ and so far 10 hours of strong sunshine.

Monday was such a contrast to previous days as the unpleasant northeasterly wind brought much cloud from the North Sea for most of the day. During the late afternoon there was a little brightness with just 5 minutes of sunshine.

Not surprising to find that temperatures fell away with the warmest part of the day at 09.55 giving a maximum of 18.2C. This was 2C below average, which was 7C down on the Sunday maximum and dropped away a couple of degrees for most of the day.

Thicker cloud was driven in overnight by a freshening northeasterly, gusting to 20mph, so that the thermometer dropped away to a minimum of 11.3C, still 1.3C above average.

Tuesday arrived with thick cloud lowering over the Marlborough Downs and light drizzle in the air but not measurable.

Update at 17.50: cool day as northeasterly meant temperatures for most of the day no more than 13C but late brightness lifted to 16.5C at 16.35 when average is 20C.