Category: Commentary

After sunny intervals on Friday morning the sun began to shone stringy just before lodaaynthat saw the thermlmter rose to 18.9C being 2.4C above the 38-year average. The wind was predominantly from the west butylate event and overnight began to back int the southwest.

Overnight was again mild with a low of 8.3C (+1.9C).

Saturday arrived with total cloud cover but just after 08.15 breaks began to appear in the cloud and the sun to shine more strongly and consistently.

The centre of the high pressure is easing eastwards, currently over the Brittany, and later centred over Belgium. This will see the wind back a little further into the south for much of the day.

The May rainfall total is just 13.8mm but is forecast to rise with possible storms during Saturday night and Sunday morn arriving from the Continent. Evaporation is the equivalent rainfall of 32mm to date.

The sun returned on Thursday, if not continuous, that lifted the thermometer to a peak of 17.8C being just above the 38-year May average and @c up on Wednesday. It was also dry and UV rated as High.

The wind was lighter and from the west-southwest peaking at 19mph, the lowest in four days.

The past night was mild being the low of 9.7C being 3.2C above the average.

The barometric pressure has been easing upwards with a reading of 1020.2mb at 08.00 on Friday that started with total cloud cover but after 08.00 signs were that the cloud might be thinning.

The real rain started just after 09.00 and continued until just after 15.00 bringing 10.6mm of very welcome rain, especially for gardeners. This was the wettest day since 6th April (11.6mm). The monthly total now stands at 13.8mm when the 38-year average is 60.7mm.

The loss of equivalent rainfall through evaporation from ground sources and plant life was a major factor in the the dry April. So far this month we have lost the equivalent of 25mm of rainfall, which is almost twice the rainfall for May to date.

Due to the many wet and cloudy hours on Wednesday the maximum temperature was subdued with a peak of 15.6C in the early evening at 18.22, during strong sunshine, being 1.9C below average.

The past night was cooler than of late with the thermometer sinking to 7.0C at 05.35, just above average.

Thursday dawned with welcome sunshine again that lifted the temperature to 12.8C at 08.00 at which time the barometric pressure had recovered to 1019.2mb as the depression eased away eastwards.

The rainfall of 1.8mm during Tuesday morning was the heaviest since 6th April and took the monthly total to 3.2mm. By contrast, the dry and sunny days this month have seen the equivalent loss of rainfall totalling 25mm through evaporation from ground sources and plant life. The last four days have seen equivalent rainfall of 3mm lost each day.

Although down over 2C on the very warm day on Monday the thermometer did get well above average (+1.7C) with a maximum of 19.2C.

The UV level rose to 7.0, which is rated at Very High, last recorded on 16th August.

There followed another very mild night as the temperature did not fall below 11.1C being 4.7C above the average.

The first spots of rain from the approaching weather front were observed just after 06.00 on Wednesday, from low cloud. A wide rain band will traverse the area during the day but its current predicted tract is mostly to the north of the area. However, there is more consistent rain forecast after midday, which if it arrives, will be very welcome by gardeners who have very dry gardens.

The temperature at 08.00 had risen very little from its overnight low reading 11.4C with the barometric pressure at its lowest all month with pressure of 1009.6mb.

Update at 16.15: Very welcome rainfall of 10.6mm today making it the wettest day since 6th April.

The thermometer soared to 21.9C on Monday in brisk winds from the southwest and 11.8 hors of global sunshine. This peak was 4.4C above the average and the warmest day since 26th September.

The dry, sunny day produced a UV level of 6.7, which was in the High category and the strongest since 17th August.

The past night has been exceptionally mild with the thermometer not sinking below 12.2C, which was 5.8C above the average.

Tuesday early morning produced just a few spots of rain at 06.00 ahead of the cold front about to cross the area. By 07.40 waves of drizzle reached us and by 08.00 the cold front had arrived producing light rain that had almost petered out by 08.25.

The depression approaching the Northwest meant the barometric pressure dropped almost 10mb in the past-twenty-four hours with a reading of 1015.1mb at 0800, the lowest since 25th April.