Author: Eric Gilbert

No thunderstorms occurred in the past twenty-four hours and the total rainfall was only 2.6mm. Due to the thick cloud and warm air from the continent, the minimum last night was 13.6C, the warmest night since mid-September.

The plume of warm air from the continent pushed the maximum temperature to 23.8C yesterday. This was the hottest day since 7th August 2013 and brought 11.78 hours of strong sunshine. The warm current of air and cloud cover meant that overnight the temperature did not drop below 11.9C.

After the warmest night for a week, with a minimum of 7.6C, today the thermometer has risen consistently and at 1400 is currently reading 22.8C, the warmest day since August last year. The barometer continues to fall as the anticyclone moves away and the wind strength is falling after the maximum gust of 28mph yesterday.

Over the last two days the consistently strong winds, gusting to 26mph yesterday, from a north-easterly direct have depressed temperatures. The maximum yesterday was a lowly 14.2C when the mean for June is almost 20C. The wind strength and direction meant that there was a wind chill factor so it felt more like 11C or 12C at best during the daytime. A cold night followed with a minimum of 5.4C.
The drying wind has meant that humidity levels are lower and as a result we are daily losing 4mm of moisture to the atmosphere from the ground, water surfaces and plant life.

The high pressure is bringing us much strong sunshine, 8.66 hours yesterday. The downside is that the clear skies at night allow the temperature to fall away to just 4 or 5C. before dawn.