Category: Commentary

There was little change in our weather on Saturday with variable cloud and 6.5 hours of sunshine. The north-northeast breeze persisted that combined with less sunshine than of late meant the thermometer only climbed to 20.2C being almost 1C below average. However, it was 3C up on the miserable high of Friday. It was the seventh consecutive dry day with UV reaching the High level.

It was a cold night as the thermometer kept falling to a minimum of 5.3C. It was the coldest night since 23rd June being a substantial 6.4C below average and 4C below the cool minimum on Friday.

Sun was observed at sunrise and much enjoyed after recent cloudy starts to a number of days. Sadly, cloud obscured the sun just after 0800. It was the coldest start to a day at that time since 22nd June.

The anticyclone is till resident, just off the northwest cast of Scotland, which is a blocking high and stopping weather fronts and depressions arriving from the Atlantic.

Friday was dull and cool with thick cloud all day until a brief burst of sunshine came thorough early evening, but far too short. As a result of the northeasterly breeze and lack of sunshine the thermometer did not rise above 16.9C, which was 4.2C below average and the coolest day 29th June.

A cool night followed, not as cool the previous night but the minimum of 9.3C was 2.4C below average.

Saturday dawned with thick, low cloud covering the Marlborough Downs and Savernake Forest limiting visibility to around 1800m for the first hour after dawn. By 0730 the visibility had improved with the mist having dispersed.

Pressure remains high so a dry day is likely. However, the low cloud that had drifted in again overnight might be stubborn to disperse, as yesterday.

We enjoyed 9.4 hours of sunshine on Thursday but the brisk northeasterly breeze pegged back the maximum temperature to a peak of 20.6C, which was 0.5C below average. The anticyclone was still in charge so another dry day, the fifth consecutive, with UV up to a High level. The monthly rainfall still stands at 64.2mm when the average is 66.9mm.

The thermometer fell steadily downwards last night to reach a minimum of just 6.9C. This was 4.1C below the 37-year average and the coldest night since 23rd June.

The temperature at 0800 on Friday was 11.3C. the coldest start to a day at that time since 22nd June. There was total cloud after dawn but just after 0800 the first glimpse of brightness appeared. The anticyclone is still influencing our weather with a cool breeze from the north-northeast and continuing dry.

There is little variation between days this week as the anticyclone is almost static and continues to dominate our weather. Wednesday again began cloudy but the sun broke through late morning and gave us a 8.7 hours of sunshine and another dry day.

The wind from the north-northeast gave another cool day with a below average maximum (-0.2C) of 20.9C. Once again the cloud drifted in again in the evening and overnight to limit loss of warmth to the atmosphere with the thermometer not sinking below 14.6C being almost 3C above average.

Thursday after dawn revealed another cloudy day with thick cloud masking any sunshine. In fact a cold front had been moving westwards across the area during the early hours with light drizzle observed at 0820. The wind continues from the north-northeast.

At 0845 the cloud had thinned and a brief glimpse of sunshine was observed.

The wind from the northeast, a little stronger on Tuesday with a peak gust of 20mph, persisted throughout the day. The air mass coming around the anticyclone and travelling over the North Sea picked up moisture again as on Monday but the cloud was thinner and broke up mid-morning giving us 9 hours of sunshine, the sunniest day since the 10th.

The thermometer reached 22.2C being 1.1C above average and the warmest day since the 14th. Overnight was similar to the previous night that started with a clear sky and shining moon but cloud drifted in by morning.

Wednesday arrived with total cloud cover but at 0735 the sun broke through a gap and was intermittent thereafter. However, there are signs that the cloud will break up further as the sun gets to work.

The barometric pressure continues high if a few millibars below the peak on Tuesday.