Author: Eric Gilbert

The warm weather continued yesterday with 1.35 hours of intermittent strong sunshine that pushed the peak temperature to 19.6C just after 4pm, again well above average. The UV level rose again to the ‘Very High’ level peaking with a reading of 8.4 at 13.27, when the sun is at its peak at this time of the year.

It was not a totally dry day as a sharp shower, amounting to 0.2mm, started just before 11am. The breeze picked up in the afternoon with peak gusts to 18mph.

It was another warm night when the thermometer fell to its lowest point at 04.50 with a minimum of 11.4C, but recovered by the time readings were taken at 08.00 to 14.1C.

This morning has dawned with no sunshine due to thick clouds totally obscuring the sky but particularly noticeable is the total absence of any air movement at the time readings were taken.

With one day to go this month it is proving to have been a very warm month being almost 1.6C above the longterm average and the warmest for several years.

LATEST (14.40) Warmest May since my records began in 1984

Yesterday was an overcast day with just a very brief glimpse of the sunshine late afternoon, one minute of strong sunshine, which boosted the thermometer to a maximum of 18.9C in the early evening. Although lower than previous days this is still 2.3C above the long term average.

The main feature of yesterday was the lack of wind and variable in direction. There was just one occasion when the breeze gusted to 11mph but for many periods it was calm. There were a few brief showers in the afternoon and evening that amounted to 2.1mm, which brings the total for May to 82.1mm, which is 22mm above the 33-year average.

It was another very mild night due to the humid continental air with the thermometer only dropping to 12.4C, which is 5.5C above the long-term average.

The thermometer had recovered to 14.2C at 08.00, when readings are taken, due to brief glimpse of the sun through breaks in the thick cloud.

Sunday brought us a very sunny morning with 3.6 hours of strong sunshine, which raised the maximum temperature to 22.7C (+6C) just after 2pm. As we passed midday thin cloud began encroaching from the south slowly reducing the strength of the sun until the first light spots of rain became apparent just before 3.30pm, but came to nothing as the storm broke up and dissipated as it moved in from the coast.

The preceding night was warm and dry so this bee decided to stay out overnight and at 08.00 was still attached, upside down, to the allium flower and was waiting for warmth from the sun’s rays to raise it’s temperature before it flew off shortly after this image was taken.

The yellow warning of heavy rain from the Meteorological Office, however, did materialise as just after 00.30 this morning there was heavy rain for a couple of hours, amounting to 6.8mm. This brings the total for May to exactly 80mm, being 20mm above the 33-year average for Marlborough.

It was a mild night due to the thick cloud so that the thermometer did not drop below 13.4C at 05.33. With no sun this morning the thermometer read 13.9C at 08.00.

Yesterday was a much more normal day with a peak temperature of 21.0C (average is 16.62C) at 15.42. Strong sunshine was limited to 1.19 hours but at those times the UV level rose to the ‘Very High’ level.

Overnight the thermometer slowly dropped to a minimum of 10.4C (almost 4C above average) just before 5.30am but quickly recovered to 15.6C at the time readings were taken at 08.00.

A dry day after the thunderstorms of the previous night, with the rainfall total standing at 73.2mm when the average for May is 60.5C.

This morning has arrived with strong sunshine as soon as the sun showed itself above the horizon.

With wall to wall sunshine yesterday it is not surprising to find that the maximum temperature eased upwards a little, from the previous day, to 26.3C at 16.29, which is 10C above the average for May. I recorded 15.84 hours of strong sunshine, the greatest number of hours since this equipment was installed in April 2014.

It is interesting to note that although we had continuous sunshine the peak solar radiation was the lowest for 8 days due to air pollution.

The temperature slowly ebbed away overnight to a minimum of 14.9C at 03.07, making it the warmest night this month and the warmest night since 10th September 2016.

All changed after this time as cloud from approaching thunderstorms stopped the temperature decline with thunder heard at 04.25 and very heavy rain starting at 04.40 amounting to 5.9mm. At this time there was an eery orange / yellow light as the thunder clouds started to obscure the sky just as the strong light from the sun began to emerge. The thunder continued until around 05.30.

At the time readings are taken, that is 08.00, the thick cloud was breaking and the sun beginning to break through.