Category: Commentary

Monday was a stormy day with strong winds for much of the daylight hours with a peak gust of 48mph at 10.31. This was the strongest gust since 15th February 2022 with 56mph.

Occasional light rain showers produced another 1.7mm of rainfall bringing the monthly total to43.5mm being 74% of the 39-year average.

The strong southwesterly airstream meant a warm day, the warmest since 15th February, with a maximum of 13.2C, which was 2.6C above the average. The temperature fell away after midnight to reach a minimum of 3.1C, just 0.7C above the average.

Also around midnight the wind veered from the southwest into the northwest or north-northwest that brought the cooler temperatures.

Tuesday stated bright with weak sunshine but by 07.00 the advance cloud associated with the next weather front arrived and the sun soon disappeared.

Sunday saw the thermometer rise to 13.1C. This was the first above average maximum this month and the warmest day since 15th February. Overnight was also warm with a minimum of 10.2C being 8.2C above average.

The UV level peaked at 2.8, which was the highest level since 15th October and at the top end of ‘Low’ strength.

Much rain fell overnight totalling 6.0mm that brought the monthly total to 41.8mm being 17mm below the 39-year average.

Monday arrived with a blast as the wind had been rising during the early hours with a peak gust of 37mph at 06.58. The cloud was a little higher and thinner but no chance of any sunshine. The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm has risen to 9.6C at 08.00 being the highest value since 7th January.

Update at 12.00: peak gust of 48mph at 10.31.

The temperature was a bit of a roller coaster on Saturday as slowly rose during Saturday morning to peak at 8.6C, which was 2C below the average. It then began to fall back to a minimum of 4.0C at 17.10. During the evening and night it rose again to 8.6C at 08.00 on Sunday thanks to a short lived warm sector arriving.

The UV briefly rose to 2.5 that was the strongest since 12th October.

Another 2.2mm of rainfall was recorded taking the monthly total to 35.8mm, which is 23mm short of the 39-year average.

There was limited brightness on Sunday morning but a mainly cloudy start to the day.

Friday was cool with the thermometer not rising above 4.1C due to the northerly air stream. However, the night was very cold with the thermometer dropping to a minimum of -3.2C at 02.56 on Saturday. Both the maximum and minimum were below average with -6.5C and -5.6C respectively.

Saturday dawned with a little brightness as we are under a short-lived ridge of high pressure. The barometric pressure has recovered to 1010.5mb after low of 988.6mb on Wednesday.

A warm front that crossed the area on Thursday morning slowly lifted the temperature to reach a peak of 10.4C at 15.13. This was produced by a weather front associated with a depression to the west of the UK and brought the warmest day since 20th February but still 0.2C below the 39-year average. The rise in temperature saw a steady thaw of the lying snow so that by evening it had all but disappeared.

As the depression slowly moved eastwards the wind swung into the north and brought much cooler weather after 23.00 that saw a low of 0.6C at 06.30 on Friday. The change in wind direction brought another weather front that saw the precipitation change into snow at 06.30 and continue until 08.00. The daily precipitation amounted to 13.2mm making it the wettest day since 13th January (22.8mm) and took the monthly total to 33.6mm, being 57% of the 39-year average.