Author: Eric Gilbert

Wednesday morning was another cool start to the day, once again under the influence of the Arctic air. However, shortly after midday the wind very slowly and hesitantly backed into the west, a less cool direction, also the late afternoon sunshine produced a pleasant interlude, especially as the wind also became light. The maximum of just 16.7C was logged at 16.59, just before thicker cloud drifted across from the west, this peak was 3.9C below my 40-year average.

The sky cleared overnight so a cool night followed with the thermometer sinking to a low of 3.8C at 04.49, just before sunrise. This minimum was a significant 6.8C below the average and the second coldest night this month.

The depression to the west has deepened in the past twenty-four hours and begun closing in on the UK, associated with it is a wide band of rain, at 08.00 the rain radar showed the rain crossing into Cornwall. The projection is that rain will arrive over southern England shortly after midday and could be heavy.

We have had nine consecutive nights with the minima well below average. However, the significant change in our weather will bring much warmer nights thanks to increased cloud cover and a change in the wind direction to come for the south today, not seen for two weeks.

Tuesday was a day best forgotten with a maximum 5.3C below my 40-year average, peaking at just 15.3C late in the afternoon at 16.04, this was 2C below the Monday peak. This was thanks to the lack of sunshine and the northerly air steam continuing to stream down cool air from the Arctic across the country. This was followed by yet another cool night, being even further from the average with a low of just 4.2C, which was -6C below.

Wednesday brought a little brightness first thing but cloud soon obliterated any sustained improvement.

A transitory ridge of high pressure will dictate our weather on Wednesday – but it won’t last. A deep depression to the west of the UK is moving in that will see the wind back from the north into the west after midday that will cut off the very cool air stream resulting in a slight improvement in temperature but still below average for the next day or two. The rain radar indicates that the second half of Thursday could be very wet. The barometric pressure had risen to 1022.5mb by 08.00, the highest since the 3rd.

Yet again on Monday we were under the influence of the low pressure over Scandinavia funnelling the Artic air down from around Greenland on a northwest or north-northwesterly air stream. As a result the maximum was again pegged back in the cool air with a maximum of just 17.2C being 3.4C below my 40-year average but at least a degree up on the Sunday low. It was a dry day with the UV level peaking at ‘High’.

The past night was again cool with the thermometer sinking to a low of 3.9C being a significant 6.3C below the average.

Monday brought glorious sunshine to start the day that lifted the temperature to 10.2C at 08.00. The barometric pressure has been slowly rising to reach 1019.0mb at 08.00, the highest for four days. The cool air ob a light northwesterly will continue.

The pesky depression has been very slowly easing away and also slowly filling. We are beginning to come under the influence of a high pressure system in the Atlantic that should give us a dry day and into tomorrow but it won’t last. By Thursday that transitory high will have disappeared and we will come under the influence of yet another depression.

The cool airstream brought down from the Arctic meant a very cool day on Sunday that saw the thermometer struggle to reach a maximum of just 16.4C at 16.20 being a significant 4.2C below my 40-year average. Thankfully, the past night was not as cold as the previous night (2.7C) but a minimum of 9.2C at 06.46 on Monday was still 1.0C below average. We have now had six consecutive nights with a below average minimum.

Rain began to fall just after 01.00 early Monday that produced a daily total of 3.5mm. The monthly total now stands at 5.3mm when my 40-year average is 53.8mm.

Monday dawned dull under cloud from the back of the weather system that crossed overnight within which was a cold front. Wind gusted to 16mph on Sunday but after dawn on Monday it increased to a peak of 20mph, that produced a wind chill therefore outside it felt at least 2C below that indicated on a thermometer. The depression is still funnelling Arctic air down over the country, from around Greenland, so Monday will be another cool day with the possibility of showers. The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 1010.0mb, the lowest reading this month. The wind will continue from a northerly quarter, principally north-northwest.

The maximum on Saturday eased upwards a trifle to reach 19.3C at 16.17, however, this was the fifth consecutive below average at -1.3C. The UV level for the second day reach the ‘Very High’ category.

During the evening the warmth slowly drained away into the atmosphere and for almost four hours in the early hours of Sunday hovered around 3C with a minimum of 2.7C at 04.22, which is very low for June and a significant 7.5C below my 40-year average. It was the coldest June night since 2010 when a low of just 1.4C was logged.

Sunday arrived with glorious sunshine that had lifted the temperature to 12.8C at 08.00.

We are still, and will continue for three more days, under the influence of the low pressure over Scandinavia that has been bringing the very cool air from near the Arctic.