Author: Eric Gilbert

With a maximum of just 9.5C yesterday, which is 5C below the average for April, it was a depressing day, especially when the drizzle turned to rain after midday (3.3mm). The wind strength was brisk with no sunshine and the lowest UV level for a month.
However, today has dawned sunny with little cloud and light winds giving a temperature of 3.7C at 08.00, after a light ground frost with an overnight minimum of 1.3C.

After five totally dry days and brisk north-easterly winds it was not surprising to find that the humidity yesterday afternoon dropped to just 51%. It has been rising overnight and at 08.00 was 78% (the driest air at this time of day since 1st July) indicating the arrival of a few drops of rain falling from the thick cloud cover just after 08.00. These drying conditions meant that evaporation from the ground, surface water and plants reached 4mm and 3mm, in equivalent moisture, for the last two days respectively. The ambient temperature, after a high of 15.6C yesterday in the early afternoon, has been dropping continuously since to give an overnight low of 6.9C.

Yesterday was a day to enjoy with 12.37 hours of strong sunshine, the highest number of hours since 30th June 2015. The thermometer rose to a maximum of 15.6C that is 1C above the average for April, only the fifth above average this month. This morning arrived with much cloud and a fresh north-easterly breeze that reduced the temperature of 6.0C at 08.00 to feeling more like 4C with wind chill taken into account.

The anticyclone that has dominated our weather for several days has started to decline and slip to the northwest. Yesterday gave us 3.91 hours of strong sunshine that with moderate winds felt very pleasant. Overnight the thermometer dropped to 2.0C just after 5am, giving a slight ground frost, but was rising steadily as the sun broke through the mist this morning, having reached 5.3C at 08.00.

The atmospheric pressure continues to rise with the promise of more settled and dry weather. The barometric reading at 08.00 today is 1027.5mb, the highest for a month. Yesterday the UV level was 5.6, up from 4.9 on the previous day, indicating the growing strength of the sun. However, there was much much cloud cover with intermittent breaks early morning and in the afternoon providing just 2.08 hours of strong sunshine. With cloud cover overnight the temperature did not drop below 6C and at 08.00 was 8.1C, just 0.1c below the warmest morning this month.