Category: Commentary

Another cloudless day on Friday that brought the hottest day since 19th July with a maximum of 33.2C being 12.1C above the 38-year average. My station is sighted up the garden away from buildings and hardstanding as far as I can get also we are on the edge of the town, therefore temperatures in the town centre will be above this this peak. The light breeze, predominantly from the west, continued. The UV level of 5.8 was the lowest for a week but still in the High category.

The past night was the first minimum above average (+0.3C) since the 3rd with a low of 12.0C at 05.52.

Saturday began as previous day this past week with strong sunshine after dawn that lifted the thermometer to 19.9C at 08.00. The heatwave has new lasted seven days as we live under a Heat Dome due to the high pressure trapping the heat beneath it. The centre of the anticyclone is slowly declining with a reading of 1015.2mb at 08.00, a drop of 14mb since its peak.

Update at 16.50: maximum of 33.4C at 16.24, which was up 0.2C on the Friday peak and 12.3C above the 38-year average.

The thermometer soared to 32.5C last afternoon on Thursday being 11.4C above the average and the warmest day since 19th July (36.7C).

The UV level of 6.2 continues at the High rating.

The minima over the past few nights have continued to rise as the very dry ground absorbs more and more warmth. The past five nights have brought 9.2C, 9.5C, 9.4C, 10.8C and 10.6C respectively. All these minima were below the 38-year average of 11.72C so at least a cooler start to each day.

Friday began as previous days with strong sunshine after dawn that produced a temperature of 20.8C at 08.00 making it the warmest start to a day at that time since 19th July 2022 (24.5C).

The humidity at 08.00 was, not surprisingly exceptionally low, with a reading of just 64%.

The ground temperature at a depth of 5cm read 22.4C at 08.00, the highest temperature since 20th July 2022 (24.3C).

Update at 17.00: maximum of 33.2C at 16.30.

Wednesday saw the thermometer rise to 30.6C being 9.5C above the average as the heat intensified. The UV level was again rated as High with a value of 6.5. The light breeze, varied between east and northeast, with a maximum gust of 17mph.

The loss of equivalent rainfall through evaporation from the ground and plant life has been consistently above 4mm a day for a week totalling 37mm this month after almost 100mm last month.

The nights had been getting warmer for the last week but a low of 10.8C last night was still 0.9C below the average.

No change as we start a new day as Thursday arrived with strong sunshine after dawn that lifted the temperature to 19.2C at 0800.

Update at 16.30: maximum of 32.4C logged at 15.53. This was 11.3C above the 38-year average and the hottest day since 19th July (36.7C).

Tuesday saw the thermometer rise to 29.4XC, which was 8.3C above the average and the hottest day since 19th July (36.7C).

Overnight was cool with a low of 9.4C, which thankfully was 2.3C below the 38-year average so the new day started cool.

Wednesday brought strong sunshine from the start so at 08.00 the thermometer had recovered to 18.9C.

The Heatwave Threshold for Wiltshire is three consecutive days with maxima equal to or above 27C. The last three days gave us 27.1C, 29.1C and 29.4C respectively. During the last 10-year review five counties to the east of Wiltshire had their threshold temperature increased to 28C whereas the Wiltshire figure remained unchanged.

Update at 15.15: maximum of exactly 30.0C logged at 15.20, or 86F, up 0.6C on the Tuesday peak. Humidity of just 37% is very low.

Update at 17.00: peak temperature of 30.6C, or 87.1F, at 16.34. This was 9.5C above the long-term average.

Monday saw the thermometer soar to 29.1C at 17.04 being 8.0C above the 38-year average and the hottest day since 19th July (36.7C).

The wind was very light and variable but generally came from the northeast, occasionally backing into the north.

The overnight minima have also seen a daily rise from 5.8C, 8.9C, 9.2C and today at 06.03 only fell to 9.5C as the ground continues to hold more warmth. However, thanks to the air movement from the cooler quarter recently, the minimum was 2.2C below the 38-year average.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm, not surprisingly, shows a similar trend of 17.0C, 18.8C, 19.5C and Tuesday read 21.0C at 08.00.

The anticyclone is firmly settled over the UK with the pressure varying little. The reading at 08.00 Tuesday was 1029.8mb.

Update at 16.35: maximum of 29.4C at 16.14 being 8.3C above average.