Category: Commentary

Storm Isha lived up to its billing although not as severe here as further north and the coastal areas. The maximum gust of wind was 48mph. Serious rain arrived at 16.10 and during the evening amounted to 15.2mm, that took the monthly rainfall total to 78.9mm, just 11mm below my 40-year average.

The centre of the Storm is easing across the North Sea to Scandinavia at the moment, as result the wind speed began to drop after 01.15 Monday with the wind direction changing to west just after 03.00 with the rain stopping at 03.20.

Monday arrived with welcome sunshine.

The maximum of 5.7C on Saturday was 1.4C below the average but the warmest day for a week. A peak gust of 21mph was modest compared to that coming later today. The automatic rain gauge was triggered at 23.50 making it the first wet day after 13 consecutive dry days, adding 3.1mm to the total now standing at 63.7mm being 72% of my 40-year average. There was no frost overnight as a minimum of 3.7C was recorded at 21.10 before the thermometer began to rise under the warmer air stream from the south.

Sunday began cloudy and mild with the thermometer having risen to 8.6C at 08.00.

We are warned that Storm Isha is coming. It is a very low pressure system and its centre will continue to deepen during the day from its current pressure reading of 649mb to an exceptionally low pressure forecast to be 636mb by tonight as heads for the north of Scotland. As a result the wind will strengthen during the afternoon and evening with further rainfall.

With a maximum of 5.4C on Friday it was the warmest day since the 14th but still 1.7C below my 40-year average. This was thanks to the change in wind direction to southwest after the northerly direction of previous days. It was the 13th consecutive dry day after the previous wet months so a welcome drying oil.

Initially the thermometer produced an air frost late evening with a minimum of -0.9C at 22.10 but then did an about turn and began to rise again to 2.7C at -08.00 on Saturday thanks to the wind backing further into the south or south southwest.

The high pressure is now well away over the Continent hence the change in wind direction as a deep depression, named Storm Isha, slowly approaches the UK. The pressure reading at 08.00 was 1024.5mb, the highest for a week so a relatively quiet day before all changes tomorrow.

A maximum of just 2.1C on Thursday was 5.0C below my 40-year average, even with many hours of sunshine, being the second coldest day this month after the extreme low on Wednesday. Not surprisingly, under clear skies overnight, the thermometer fell steadily to reach a minimum of -6.3C at 7.28 on Friday morning. This was the coldest night since 25th January 2023 (-7.7C).

Friday morning revealed a blue sky with sunshine as soon as the sun rose above the horizon.

The centre of the high pressure is now over northern France that will produce an air stream from the west southwest or southwest today, not seen since 2nd January. This will bring a significant change in our weather with milder and more moist air stream slowly raising the temperatures by day and night. The temperature at 08.00 was -5.8C.

The barometric pressure has risen a significant 17mb in the last twenty-four hours with a reading of 1022.8mb at 08.00, hence the clear skies and sunshine.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm has seen the extreme cold seep further into the ground with a temperature of -2.9C at 08.00.

The Arctic air mass on Wednesday meant the thermometer struggled to get above freezing with a maximum of just 1.5C at 13.04. This peak was 5.6C below my 40-year average and the coldest day since 1st December 2023 (0.7C). Under clear skies overnight the temperature slowly descended to reach a low of -5.9C at 06.51 early Thursday making it the coldest night since 25th January 2023 (-7.7C) and a significant 7.1C below my 40-year average.

Clear skies saw the sun shining brightly after sunrise on Thursday, not total cloud cover as yesterday. The air temperature had lifted a degree to read -4.9C at 08.00. Once again this month the air was relatively dry at that time with a humidity of 86%.

The cold is seeping further into the ground as the soil temperature at a depth of 5cm read -2.3C at 08.00, being 2.1C lower than yesterday.

The high pressure in the Atlantic is beginning to affect our weather today as the pressure is currently rising fast with a reading of 1005.6mb at 08.00, up 13mb since that time on Wednesday. It has also meant the air stream today is coming from the northwest as against northeast yesterday, also less strong.