Author: Eric Gilbert

After the misty conditions cleared late morning on Thursday there were bright intervals that lifted the thermometer to 11.9C at 14.20 being 1.6C above my 40-year average and the warmest day since last Sunday. During the evening the clear skies meant much warmth ebbed away into the atmosphere with the thermometer sinking to a low of 0.9C at 03.32 early Friday producing a short lived ground frost. At that time cloud began to drift across and the temperature recovered to 3.2C by 08.00.

Friday revealed a cloudy sky and calm conditions under the prevailing high pressure that is very slowly losing pressure with a reading of 1029.9mb at 08.00, down 8mb since its peak on Monday.

The high pressure will influence our weather for another couple of days but by Sunday the first signs of a change in our weather will be seen as we come under the influence of low pressure to the north. Shorty afterwards a much colder air stream will arrive, likely from the northwest, producing possible air frosts.

It has been a mainly dry month so far with the equivalent loss of rain through evaporation exceeding the rainfall total with 4mm and 1.6mm respectively.

Both the maximum of 10.5C and the minimum of 5.3C in the last twenty-four hours were above average with +0.2C and +1.3C respectively.

Brief, light drizzle drifted across in the early morning of Thursday with misty conditions.

The cooler air on Tuesday, brought on a breezy northerly airstream limited the temperature rise to a maximum of 10.2C at 13.42, which was just 0.1C below my 40-year average. Some variable cloud overnight meant the minimum of 5.6C, that was logged at 07.46 early Wednesday, was 1.1C above average. The breeze was brisk with a maximum gust of 20mph at 13.49 that produced wind chill all day so that outside in felt up to 2C cooler than that indicated on a thermometer. The UV level peaked a ;itty higher with a value of 1.1, the highest since 31st October.

Wednesday revealed a sky with thin cloud and some brightness after dawn. The air is much drier with humidity at 08.00 logged at 95% after recent days with near or at 100%.

So far this month it has been very dry with just 1.5mm of precipitation whereas the loss of equivalent rainfall through evaporation is greater and totals 2.6mm for the month.

The high pressure will maintain the stable weather system for perhaps three more days, however, much colder weather is on the horizon after the weekend with Sunday the first to see the first change in temperature.

Th variable sunshine on Monday was so welcome after the nine gloomy days. The thermometer eventually rose to 11.8C being 1.5C above my long-term average, however, the clearer skies overnight allowed the warmth to dissipate into the atmosphere with the temperature falling away to minimum of 3.7C at 06.44 early Tuesday. It was a dry day and the UV peaked at a reading of 1.0, the highest since 31st October.

Tuesday brought a bright start to the new day as the cloud was high and thin but not totally clear. By 08.00 the thermometer had crept up to 5.1C.

Update at 13.00: the wind from north-northeast is gusting to 18mph and producing a wind chill so that outside it feels more like 7C rather the thermometer temperature of 9.9C.

The new anticyclone has a very high pressure with a reading of 1038.1mb early Tuesday, which is the highest pressure since 12th January. The centre of the high pressure is to the west, over Ireland, so the air circulating clockwise will bring a cooler air steam from the north-northeast or northeast and will bring mainly dry weather with variable cloud.

The first change in our weather pattern of late saw a gloomy Sunday morning but after midday the cloud began to thin and some brakes appeared with brief glimpses of small patches of blue sky, what a treat after the previous dull and gloomy days. As a result the thermometer rose to a maximum of 13.6C at 14.29 being 3.3C above my 40-year average and the warmest day since the 31st October. There was sufficient UV light to trigger the sensor, the first after three successive non-show days.

Further significant changes occurred in the early hours of Monday as a new high-pressure system developed over the UK. This resulted in the wind direction swinging into the west just before 02.00 then north an hour later. At 02.30 there was a brief rain shower amounting to 0.2mm and the strongest gust of wind all month occurred precisely at 02.34, peaking at 14mph. This activity with wind direction and brief rain was associated with a cold front moving down from the north. The temperature then began to slowly fall away reaching a minimum of 8.2C at 07.40, being 4.2C above my long-term average.

It was a glorious start to Monday as the cloud was much thinner and there was a very bright start to the new day, gone the nine days of gloom. The weather front is slowly moving southwards so the cloud should begin to thin with hopefully some welcome sunshine as the day progresses.

A new high pressure system has formed over the UK with its centre over Ireland and is likely to hang around for much of the week. The barometric pressure reading at 08.00 was 1035.8mb, the highest since the 1st February. The clearer skies will mean a much colder night ahead.