Author: Eric Gilbert

Thursday brought us another day with thick cloud and high humidity but very mild. The thermometer reached a maximum of 10.5C, which was 2.7C above the 33-year average. Not surprisingly, there was no sun but a slight brightening around lunchtime for a few minutes temporarily lifted the gloom.

Rainfall was recorded just after 2am this morning amounting to 3.3mm that brings the total for December to 56mm, which is well below the long-term average of 89.4mm for December.

It was another very mild night with the thermometer not dropping below 9.2C, which was a significant 7.3C above the 33-year average. This gave us a variation of only 1.3C between day and night temperatures.

This morning is a repeat of the two previous days with thick cloud cover although with a slightly higher base thus no hill fog at 08.00.

The moisture laden and mild air was firmly in control yesterday with the thermometer rising to 10.4C, which was 2.6C above the 33-year average.

The thermometer varied little in the past twenty-four hours so that at 08.00 this morning it had only fallen slightly to 10.1C (8.2C above average) making it the warmest morning since 21st November.

The low, thick cloud is still producing hill fog this morning with visibility down to around 700m and humidity of 99%. This makes it the most saturated air mass at this time of day for two months.

There was little movement of air yesterday as the strongest gust registered just 10mph. This morning there is a little more movement after the still conditions at this time yesterday a steady 5 or 6mph.

The change in weather type was seen after 3am yesterday morning when the minimum of -3.0C was reached. After that time, the thermometer slowly rose for the next 29 hours to reach 8.2C this morning at 08.00. This was brought about by a slight change in wind direction to south west bringing cloudy, moist air.

Precipitation yesterday amounted to 0.4.mm, bringing the total for December to 52.3mm, some 58% of the long-term average. With little heavy rain in the forecast, the rainfall for 2017 so far is a considerable 160mm below the 33-year average.

This morning is notable for the presence of hill fog limiting visibility to 400m. With the centre of the high pressure close by, there is little pressure gradient (isobars wide apart) resulting in the strongest gust yesterday of only 11mph and still conditions this morning.

The anticyclone currently over the UK, with a reading at 08.00 today of 1035.1mb, gave us 6.14 hours of sunshine on Monday, the highest daily sunshine total this month. However, after a sharp frost that night the thermometer only reached a maximum of 5.0C, this was 2.8C below the December average.

Overnight, the clear skies meant that the thermometer fell steadily to a minimum of -3.0C at 02.38, that was 5C below average, before rising to -1.4C at 08.00.

Yesterday produced the quietest day this month with a maximum of just 8mph, previously held with 11mph maximum on 5th.

Although Sunday stared with frost, the encroaching cloud from the next rain band started to arrive mid-morning with light rain until late afternoon, amounting to 2.2mm.

The thermometer rose steadily all day, reaching its maximum, unusually, mid-evening at 20.05 with a peak of 9.8C, which was 2C above the average and the warmest day since 6th.

Due to the thick cloud all day there was no sunshine and no UV level registered. The solar energy total for the day was the lowest since 16th January.

This morning has dawned with thin high cloud and the air temperature oscillating around freezing at 08.00 with a minimum of -0.2C.