Author: Eric Gilbert

Saturday gave us another 0.7mm of rainfall in the morning bringing the March total to 130.9mm, which was 228% of the 34-year average or almost 74mm above.

The rain stopped mid-morning but other than a quick flash of sunshine for less than a minute it was another sunless day with thick cloud and depressed temperatures due to the north westerly winds giving a maximum of only 6.3C, being 4.3C below the March average.

Overnight the temperature ebbed away to a minimum of 2.4C just before dawn, just above average.

Sunday started with glorious sunshine shortly after dawn as the sun cleared cloud on the eastern horizon, triggering the sunshine recorder (100w/sq.m) just before 08.00 when the thermometer had risen to 3.7C.

A full review of March will appear on Monday.

Sunday update at 09.30: two hours of sunshine this morning then the clouds bubble up – but that is more than the total for the last three days!

Sunday update at 18.50: rain returns yet again (18.45) so no dry day although there were a couple of sunny hours first thing. However, thermometer only reached 7.3C, almost 7C below the early April average.

FACT: Sunshine in March of 55 hours was only 2 hours above the January total and half the glorious February total.

The rain started just before 11.30 on Friday. I went to bed with it raining and I have got up today and it is still raining. The daily total for the past twenty-four hours was 15.2mm, which brings the total for March to 130.2mm, a record for this station since it started recording in 1984, being 227% of the 34-year March average or 73mm above the past record set in March 2001.

The depression that sat over the UK for all of Saturday, day and night, just slowly revolved anticlockwise, and only gradually moved just a little north, which in the late afternoon meant that the wind backed from the Northeast into the Northwest.

With no sun on Friday, thick cloud and a wind from the Northeast for much of the daylight hours it was not surprising to find that it was a cold day with the thermometer not getting above 6.6C, almost 4C below the March average and that does not take into account the wind chill, which meant for much of the day it felt more like 4C.

Saturday has dawned with thick, low cloud giving misty conditions and light rain.

No surprises to find that the sunshine in March so far has been approximately half of that recorded in February and only one hour more than that recorded in January.

Saturday update at 14.15: NOT holiday weather as thermometer struggled to reach maximum of 6.3C at 14.00, 4.2C below average. Now fallen away to 5.9C with wind chill making it feel like 3C as northwesterly wind has been increasing, gusting to 20mph. Sporadic light rain in morning now ceasing.

Saturday update at 16.30: although the rain has stopped for the past few hours it is so dark the solar panels have temporarily shut down.

Thursday was another depressing day with much cloud and frequent showers that included small hail. This brought the March total to 115.0mm, which is a record for this station started in 1984. The previous wettest March was in 2001 with 113.7mm.

The brisk southeasterly wind and little sunshine, just half an hour all day, pegged back the temperature to a maximum of just 7.0C that occurred in the early evening at 18.00, which was 3.5C below the March average.

During the evening there were intermittent clear skies that let the thermometer drop to 1.1C at 06.53 this morning, causing a very slight ground frost for a short while.

Friday has dawned dull and wet with light rain starting again at 07.40.

Friday update at 12.00: temperature of 5.9C but bitter north easterly wind makes wind chill, so it feels like 4C. Drizzle now turning to light rain.

Friday update at 16.30: temperature just 5.2C with wind chill making it feel like 2C and maximum temperature only 6.6C at 13.48, which was 4C below average. Five hours of continuous rain and much more to come.

Friday 22.00: what a dreadful day? 10 hours of continuous rain bringing in excess of another 11mm of rainfall and current temperature of 3.1C due to wind backing into northwest.

During the brief sunshine on Wednesday afternoon, amounting to 2.7 hours, the UV level rose to 3.2, the highest since 2nd October.

Wednesday gave us a wet morning with 5.0mm of rainfall brining the total for March to 107mm. During the afternoon it dried up in the sunshine although the brisk westerly wind pegged back the temperature to a maximum of 7.4C being 3C below the average and down 4.5C on Tuesday’s maximum.

With clear skies for most of the night the thermometer fell away to a minimum of 0.4C at 05.50 this morning giving a short and light ground frost.

Thursday has dawned with variable cloud and the first rain starting to fall just after 7.30am. The temperature recovered to 1.6C at 08.00.

FACT: 1.sunshine in March (to 29th) equal to that recorded in January and half that recorded in February.

2. At 18.00 on Thursday total rainfall this month within 1mm of being wettest March since records began here in 1984.

Tuesday was a dry day but the rain arrived again overnight, starting just after 04.30 this morning, bringing another 4.9mm of rain so that the total now stands at 102.2mm. With rain continuing to fall and more forecast for the remainder of March, we will be getting close to or exceeding the wettest March I have recorded that was set in 2001 with 113.7mm.

There was brief glimpse of the un on Tuesday, but lasting only 13 minutes. The total sunshine for March is well down on the average for the past few years.

Tuesday day and night both gave us above average temperatures with a maximum of 11.7C (+1.1C) and a minimum of 4.7C (+2.5C).

Wednesday morning has dawned dark and wet with steady rain continuing to fall.

Wednesday update at 17.00: maximum temperature below average again with peak of just 7.4C at 15.03,which was 4C down on Tuesday and 3C below 34year average.