Category: Commentary

Although Wednesday morning was overcast and dull, the sun came out just after 1400 and logged 7 hours in total. This lifted the temperature in the afternoon to 21.0C, almost average. It was a dry day with the UV level reaching High.

A mild night followed with a low of 12.4C (+0.7C).

Although Thursday arrived with total cloud cover just before 0745 the sun began to break through and shortly afterwards was shining strongly.

With the barometric pressure already falling away and a warm front edging in from the west we must enjoy the sun whilst it makes an appearance before more cloud and possible precipitation arrive later in the morning.

The thick cloud persisted for most of Tuesday as a result of the air mass running around the top of the high pressure in the Atlantic before heading for the UK and picking up moisture as it travelled. There was minimal sunshine of 1.4 hours with brief, drizzle / light rain mid-morning not measurable.

The lack of sunshine and brisk wind from the west meant a cool day with the maximum of 19.1C being 2C below average.

The thick cloud overnight and minimal wind gave us the warmest night since 27th July with a low of 14.8C being 3.1C above average. This resulted in the warmest start to a day at 0800 this month with the thermometer reading 16.4C.

With the wind coming from the northwest on Monday it was not surprising to find a below average maximum (-1.2C) with a peak of 19.9C. In addition, the long run of wind from the Atlantic brought more cloud although it did brighten up mid-morning and eventually we received 8.9 hours of sunshine with the UV level very briefly nudging into the Very High category. It was a dry day, the seventh this month.

The overnight low was also below average, but only just (-0.2C), with a minimum of 11.5C.

Tuesday brought an overcast start to the day with the wind backing a few degrees into the west.

After a bright morning on Sunday drizzle and light rain arrived late afternoon but only amounting to 0.5mm. That addition brought the monthly total to 44.2m when the average is 66.9mm.

Temperatures by day and night were again below average with a peak of 20.6C(-0.5C) and low of 10.C(-0.8C). Those figures were down 3C by day and night compared to the Saturday temperatures.

Monday, although starting cloudy and dull, saw the sun break through just before 0830. However, the significant change has been the wind that having been in the southwest quadrant for two weeks has veered into the west-northwest and later the northwest, a chilly direction, even in our so called summer.

Before it began to fall away the short lived ridge of high pressure on Saturday gave us 6.2 hours of sunshine and the UV level of 7.5 was the highest since 27th July being rated at Very High.

Both the maximum of 23.9C (+2.8C) and minimum of 14.2C (+2.5C) were above average. It was the warmest night this month equal to the 6th.

Sunday after dawn saw very light drizzle falling, not measurable, that limited visibility to around 1,200m but by 0730 had cleared. The thermometer by 0800 had risen to 16.1C making it the warmest start to a day at that time since 27th July.