Yesterday the thermometer peaked at 22.8C. This was the warmest day since April 23rd in 2011 when the record was set at 26.2C. There was continuous sunshine amounting to 12.77 hours, the highest recorded since the new instrument was installed exactly one year ago.
At 0800 today the soil temperature at a depth of 5cm reached its highest this year at 10.7C.
Author: Eric Gilbert
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Warmest April day since 2011
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Warmest start to day after cold night
Although the temperature dropped to 4.2C just before dawn, the strong sunshine since raised the air temperature to 10.8C at 0800. Yesterday was another very sunny day with 9.47 hours of sunshine taking the total this month to 65.8 hours and a peak temperature of 20.8C, the warmest day since the end of September.
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Minimal rainfall and considerable evaporation
After 13 days this month the rainfall total is just 6.3mm when the average for April is 61.4mm. In contrast, the evaporation from the ground, plants and water surfaces is 28mm due to the rising temperatures and drying winds.
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After 6C above, yesterday brought 1C below average maximum temperature
The very warm and dry spell was brought to a halt yesterday as a cold front swept across the country. The maximum was 12.2C with maximum wind gusts to 22mph and 1.1mm of rainfall between 0500 and 0930. In the early hours of this morning the temperature dropped briefly to give a ground frost.
