Category: Commentary

The ridge of high pressure maintained the very hot and sunny weather on Saturday pushing the temperature to 28.7C at 16.11 being 8.5C above the 39-year average and the second warmest day this month as 29.8C was recorded on the 10th. The UV level peaked at 9.5, which was at the top end of Very High rating and the highest since 7th June 2021.

The past night was warm with. low of 12.9C, which was 2.8C above the average.

Sunday arrived with more sunshine but the barometric pressure has been dropping, 10mb in the past twenty-four hours, 1014.5mb at 08.00, as a depression edges in from the Atlantic and the ridge declines. The wind at 08.00 was from the southeast but due to veer into the west as the morning progresses and as a cold front crosses the country mid-afternoon that will bring more cloud and limit the rise in temperature later today. The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm read 22.1C at 0800, the highest since 15th August 2022.

The UV level on Friday at 8.4 was the highest since July 2022 and into the Very High category. The ridge of high pressure was the reason for the sunny and hot weather with the thermometer rising to 26.2C and only dropping to 14.6C at 03.46 early Saturday. These were + 6.0C and +4.5C respectively.

The loss of equivalent rainfall through evaporation is again running at 3mm and 4mm per day.

Saturday arrived dull and grey with low cloud but just before 08.00 the sun began to break through lifting the temperature to 18.3C.

Update at 18.30: maximum temperature of 28.7C logged at 16.11. A temperature of 29.8C was recorded on June 10th.

The temperature soared to 26.7C on Thursday, the highest for a week and 6.5C above the average. The westerly breeze was light wot a maximum gust of 15mph.

We have now had 16 consecutive days with an above average maximum and nine consecutive nights when the thermometer did not drop below the 39-year average.

The cloud cover and residual heat from the daylight hours on Thursday meant a mild night with the thermometer not sinking below 12.5C, which was 2.5C above the average.

Variable sunshine greeted the new day on Friday but by 08.00 more cloud had drifted across obscuring the sun. The barometric pressure has continued to build with the reading at 08.00 of 1024.4mb, the highest since the 6th.

The dry and warm weather continued over the last twenty-four hours with both maximum of 23.8C and minimum 10.8C above average being +3.6C and + 0.7C respectively.

The ridge of high pressure, reaching from North Africa to Norway, has been building further, now the highest for a week with a reading of 1019.5mb at 08.00 Thursday.

It is mid-summer so no surprises that the UV level of 8.3 was rated Very High and the highest level since 13th July 2022.

Radiation fog greeted Thursday morning with visibility limited to 400m in the River Og and River Kennet Valleys. Just before 07.00 the fog began to roll in from the northeast and was down to 300m before the sun began to break through just before 07.45. BY 08.00 the fog had retreated considerably into misty conditions.

The cloud on Tuesday slowly thinned after the three hours of rain and the sun broke through after 13.00 lifting the temperature to 23.4C being 3.2C above the average. The UV level rose to 8.2, well into the ‘Very High’ category and the highest all year – but it is mid-summer!

The past night was cool with a minimum of 10.8C at 05.04 early on Wednesday.

Wednesday initially brought welcome early sunshine but by 07.30 cloud began to obscure much of the sunshine. The barometric pressure has recovered 9mb since yesterday as pressure begins to rise again with a reading of 1015.8mb at 08.00. The breeze is forecast to back into the southwest today after a westerly for much of yesterday after midday.