Author: Eric Gilbert

Saturday was the ninth consecutive day with thick, low cloud blocking out any sunshine that limited the temperature rise to 7.8C. In fact the thermometer was almost stationary all day at around 7.2C. The minimum temperature was logged at 00.59 early Sunday with a low of 6.1C after which the temperature began to reverse and rise again. There was little air movement although there was a significant change from east to west and south that saw the thermometer rise a degree overnight to reach 8.2C. It was another dry day with the UV level so low it did not trigger the UV sensor, the third consecutive occurrence.

Sunday brought another cloudy start to the day but the cloud was higher than recently being produced from a warm weather front crossing the country, the first for over a week, a significant change in our weather pattern. Any breeze will come mainly from the southwest today, a warmer direction, rather than from an easterly quadrant as in the past week.

The blocking high continued to keep the weather fronts at bay on Friday but maintained the dark, dull and gloomy conditions of thick, low cloud. The temperature fell away in the early hours of Friday stabilising around 7C for much of the day and night. A maximum of 7.4C was logged at 10.01 being the first below average peak since the 5th, which was 2.8C below my 40-year average. The minimum of 6.7C was logged at 07.14 early Saturday being 2.7C above average.

The past twenty-four hours has produced a minimal diurnal range, the difference between day and night extremes, of just 0.5C. For the third time in November the UV strength was insufficient to trigger the UV sensor.

Saturday first light revealed that the overcast conditions had not changed with low, thick cloud still in evidence. The air movement will be variable from the north and east but still minimal in strength. The air mass continues to be a little less humid with a reading of 93% at 08.00, the lowest this month.

The high pressure that has dominated our weather for the past week or so is still slowly declining that is allowing a weather front to very slowly edge in from the west. The forecast is for a modest improvement in light and UV strength Sunday afternoon.

Thursday was a repeat of the previous six days with the persistent thick, low cloud trapped under the anticyclone. The maximum of 10.6C, logged at 13.56, was slightly down on the previous day and just 0.3C above the long-term average. The past night was the coolest since the 1st with a minimum of 7.0C at 07.02 early Friday, which was 3.0C above the average.

There were occasions when very light drizzle was observed amounting to 0.4mm.

For the second day in November no UV light triggered the sensor, as on Sunday. Thursday managed to peak at 0.6, for a brief period.

The significant change on Friday morning was the absence of fog although the conditions were misty. The cloud was a little higher and significantly, the humidity at 08.00 was 96%, in the slightly drier air after 100% on Wednesday and Thursday morning at 08.00.

The anticyclonic gloom will be with us until Sunday when in the afternoon there is the possibility that the conditions will begin to improve with a distinct change in our weather on Monday. The barometric pressure is beginning to slowly fall, down 4mb since its peak, as the high pressure begins to decline, but still very high with a reading of 1027.1mb at 08.00 Friday.

Wednesday continued the pattern of thick, low cloud trapped under the high pressure dome. Once again there was little air movement, a maximum movement of just 8mph was logged on one occasion but for long periods the anemometer was stationary. The one slight variation was the moisture in the air from very light drizzle on occasions that amounted to 0.6mm of precipitation.

Once again, due to thick cloud limiting the rise in temperature by day and fall overnight produced a maximum of 11.8C at 13.13 being 1.5C above average and a minimum of 9.2C at 03.27 early Thursday, which was 5.2C above average. Thus a difference of just 2.6C called the diurnal range of temperatures.

Thursday was a repeat of the previous five days as daylight on Thursday revealed low, thick cloud once again draping the Marlborough Downs and Savernake Forest limiting visibility to 700m, slightly better than previous days. The humidity at 08.00 was 100% with again moisture being felt in the air from very light drizzle. The barometric pressure continues very high with a reading of 1031.2mb at 08.00.

The lack of wind and virtually no solar energy is resulting in minimal green energy being produced across much of the country. My 16 solar panels, facing south, struggled on Wednesday to produce just 1.2Kwh, which was slightly better than 0.46Kwh on Sunday that coincided with no UV triggering the sensor, yesterday peaked at 0.6.

Yet another dull, cloudy and overcast day on Tuesday. The maximum temperatures over the last four days have been slowly descending with 12.8C, 11.6C, 10.4C respectively with 10.1C on Tuesday, which was 0.2C below my 40-year average. It was a dry during daylight hours but thick cloud and drizzle decided in the evening producing 0.3mm of precipitation. There was even less air movement, a maximum of just 7mph was logged on one rare occasion. but the anemometer was stationary for long periods.

The diurnal temperature range was just 0.4C overnight with a minimum of 9.7C just after midnight.

The start to Wednesday was as on previous days with low, thick cloud producing light drizzle in the air.

The jet steam has been positioned to the north of the UK keeping the cooler air to the north away and maintaining the high pressure, the projection is that this will continue for a few more days.

The high pressure has been intensifying having risen 7mb since Tuesday with a pressure reading of 1030.6mb at 08.00.