Category: Commentary

The moist Atlantic air brought much cloud and less sunshine on Tuesday, just 4.3 hours. As a result of the cloud and a modest breeze from the nor nor west, the thermometer was a again below average (-3.5C) with a peak of 19.5C. The cloud also meant reduced UV with a peak of 5.5 being bottom end of High and the second lowest this month. It was another dry.

The thermometer fell to a minimum of 12.2C overnight being just above the average (+0.3C).

Wednesday arrived with more gloom and moisture laden air as a warm front slowly traversed the country. The barometric pressure has been slowly falling away, losing some 13mb since the peak on Sunday, with a current reading of 1015.3mb at 08.00.

Monday brought more cloud ahead of another rain band thus reduced sunshine, 9.1 hours, but around midday the UV level rose to 9.6 being at the top end of ‘Very High’ and not recorded since 1st July 2019. The reduced sunshine and modest breeze from the west meant that the thermometer was a little lower than on Sunday with a maximum of 22.2C, just 0.6C below the average.

There were light showers between 21.15 and 22.10 from the rain band that passed through amounting to 2.8mm. This brought the July total to 18.4mm when the 36-year average is 59.7mm.

Tuesday saw a continuation of the moist Atlantic air with total cloud cover and high humidity after dawn. It was the warmest night since 26th June with the thermometer not sinking below 14.7C, which was 2.8C above the average.

Under the influence of 12.8 hours of sunshine and very high UV levels again, the thermometer continued to rise all day reaching a peak of 23.7C at 16.06 on Sunday This was the hottest day since 26th June and 0.9C above the 36-year average under the influence of the anticyclone that was centred over the UK.

The cirrus clouds produced interesting patterns under the influence of high altitude winds. The wind was variable during the day but predominantly westerly being very light with a maximum gust of only 11mph.

A much warmer night followed than previously with the thermometer not falling below 10.4C although 1.4C below the average.

Monday arrived with variable cloud and bursts of sunshine ahead of a rain band arriving later in the day. Under the strong early sunshine the thermometer rose quickly to read 17.0C at 08.00 making it the warmest start to the day, at this time, since 26th June.

Under the influence of the anticyclone, centred over the south western approaches, Saturday was a superb day. We enjoyed 11.5 hours of strong sunshine with the UV level rated at ‘Very High’ from 11.30 to 14.30.

It was the fourth dry this month. The rate of evaporation is increasing again with the equivalent of 4mm of rainfall lost to the atmosphere on Saturday. The rainfall total of 15.6mm has been overtaken by the total evaporation in July of 28mm.

Even though we had much sunshine the air flow from the north west, brought on light winds gusting to only 14mph, pegged back the peak temperatures to 20.7C being 2.1C below average but 2.4C up on the Friday peak.

Overnight under the clear skies, the thermometer fell away to a minimum of 5.9C, which was 6C below the 36-year average but almost exactly the same as the previous night’s minimum.

Sunday arrived with sunshine after dawn but dimmed occasionally through light thin cloud and more aircraft condensation trails that have been evidentin previous months.

What a difference a change in the wind direction makes as the high pressure exerted itself. The wind, from the previous night, had veered into the nor nor west, a much cooler direction. As a result daytime temperatures were depressed with a maximum of 18.3C, being 4.5C below average. It was a totally dry day, welcome after the previous damp days.

Overnight under clear skies, the thermometer fell rapidly to a minimum of 5.8C at 05.31 on Saturday, which was 6.1C below the 36-year average. That was 6C below the previous night’s minimum.

Saturday dawned with glorious sunshine in a clear blue sky that boosted the temperature to 13.9C at 08.00. The barometric pressure has been rising steadily with a current reading of 1026.5mb, being the highest since the end of May.