Category: Commentary

Monday brought limited sunshine, just 3.8 hours, but the gentle breeze from the west meant a peak temperature of 18.2C was 0.5C below the 36-year average.

The thermometer fell very little during the night that gave us a very mild night with the thermometer not sinking below 15.6C being 6.4C above the average.

Tuesday after dawn the low cloud base, masking at times the Marlborough Downs, brought humid and and just a light breeze.

The barometric pressure has built a little in the past twenty-four hours with a reading at 08.00 of 1024.5mb the highest since 21st July. An elongated area of high pressure in the eastern Atlantic continues to feed the UK with a westerly air mass.

During the 5.3 hours of sunshine on Sunday the thermometer rose to a maximum of 19.7C being 1.0C above the average. The spells of sunshine made it feel very pleasant especially as the wind was very light for most of the day with a maximum gust of just 10mph and from the west south west.

During the early hours of Monday, as the thermometer continued to fall with a minimum of 7.1C, which was 2.1C below average, variable fog began to develop. The fog initially was in the fields when hedges and trees could be seen outlining the boundaries but around 07.30 it began to thicken with a minimal visibility of 500m.

By 08.00 the fog was beginning to thin under the influence of brief bursts of sunshine that lifted the temperature to 9.4C making it the coolest start to the day at that time since 16th May. Autumn has truly arrived.

Saturday was another below average day with the maximum temperature of 17.9C (-0.8C). The westerly breeze, gusting at its peak to 16mph, moderated the warmth.

It was another dry day with UV again reaching the ‘High’ category around midday during the 7 hours of sunshine.

The thermometer did not fall below average overnight due to broken cloud cover with a minimum 9.7C (+0.5C).

Sunday began mostly cloudy with brief glimpses of brightness and calm conditions.

Friday was the first dry day this month with almost 4 hours of sunshine. However, the brisk westerly breeze, gusting to 17mph, limited the temperature rise to a maximum of 17.6C being 1.1C below the 36-year average. In the sunshine the UV level was the highest this month at 5.6, which was in the ‘High’ category around midday.

The thermometer dropped to 8.6C in the early hours of Saturday, which was 0.6C below average and produced radiation fog in the River Og valley briefly around dawn. This quickly dispersed as the sun rose above the horizon heralding a sunny morning. The barometric pressure is currently the highest this month at 1021.5mb

Thursday was the warmest day for over a week as the thermometer rose to 20.1C being 1.4C above the 36-year average. Sunshine was limited, just over half an hour, as it was a predominantly cloudy day with light showers mid-afternoon amounting to 1.2mm. For much of the day the wind came from the southwest but late afternoon it veered into the northwest. The UV level with a peak reading of 2.6 was in the ‘Low’ category.

The past night was mild due to the cloud cover acting as a duvet minimising loss of warmth to the atmosphere with a minimum of 12.0C for an hour between 05.00 and 06.00 on Friday.

Friday morning arrived with almost total cloud cover with initially the occasional bright interval, but minimal. As the recent depression eases away to the North Sea between Iceland and Norway, an extensive anticyclone mid-Atlantic is now easing towards the UK with the barometric pressure rising over the past twelve hours producing a current reading of 1021.0mb