Category: Commentary

The thermometer soared to a peak of 30.4C at 16.23 on Wednesday as the high pressure, now centred over Scandinavia, brought very warm air from the Continent and as far south as North Africa. This was the warmest day since 25th August 2019. The UV level briefly reached ‘Very High’, lower than previous days, as the air brought pollutants during its passage over Europe with possible sand particles from the Sahara Desert. The solar energy was down again on previous days as also global sunshine.

The land retained much of the heat overnight so that the minimum of 15.6C at 05.07 on Thursday was 5.6C above average. Both daytime and nighttime extremes were up 4C on the Tuesday values.

Thursday saw hazy sunshine, but strong, from dawn with the breeze coming from the northeast initially. By 08.00 the thermometer had already reached 21.4C making it the warmest start to the day at this time since 10th July 2017.

The barometric pressure has been falling the past twenty-four hours so change is in the near future.

Update on Thursday at 16.45: maximum of 31.4C at 15.30.

With the arrival of the Continental Air on the modest southeasterly breeze it was no wonder the thermometer rose very high to register a maximum of 26.1C. This was the hottest day since 25th August 2019 and 6C above the 36-year average.

The sunshine recorder logged 12.3 hours. This total was sightly down on the previous day as very thin high cloud was evident that meant the UV level was also lower at 7.4. However, the ‘Very High’ category lasted from just after 12.00 to just after 14.00. Further evidence provided by the total daily solar energy recorded, which was down 3% on Tuesday’s value.

A warm night followed with a minimum of 11.8C being 1.8C above the average.

Wednesday saw muted sunshine after dawn as the thin high cloud, brought on the warm, moist Continental Air, was still evident. By 08.00 the sun had boosted the temperature to 19.1C.

The evaporation this month now totals the equivalent of 72mm of rainfall, just exceeding the rainfall of 71mm.

Update on Wednesday at 17.14: maximum temperature of 30.4C at 16.24, which was 10.3C above the 36-year average, making it the hottest day since 25th August 2019.

It was not surprising to find that as a result of the southerly breeze the thermometer rose above average with a maximum of 21.9C (+1.8C) on Monday. The was up 2C on the Sunday peak. Also expected was the ‘Very High’ UV level in the 13.3 hours of strong sunshine.

Also above average was the minimum overnight registering a low 11.4C (+1.4C). This was 4.4C up on the previous very cool night.

Tuesday arrived with strong sunshine after dawn that boosted the temperature to 17.5C at 08.00 ahead of what will be a hot day.

The centre of the high pressure has migrated to southern Scandinavia that is continuing to bring warm air from the Continent.

Update on Tuesday at 16.00: thermometer rose to a maximum of 26.3C at 16.44. This was the hottest day since 25th August that then reached 30.7C.

As the pressure began to rise on Sunday there was an increase in sunshine to almost 11 hours. However, the brisk westerly wind pegged back the temperature to a maximum of 19.8C, just below average.

The strong sunshine did however raise the UV level to 8.7, which was very high around midday.

It was a very cool night Sunday into Monday as under clear skies the temperature fell way down to 7.0C. This was 3C below average and the coolest night since 8th June.

We were greeted by strong sunshine after dawn that lifted the thermometer briskly t0 reach 14.0C at 08.00.

Te barometric pressure has been rising for the past twenty-four hours with a reading of 1024.6mb at 08.00 Monday, the highest for nearly a month.

After overnight rain the sun returned on Saturday with 6.3 hours that around midday raised the UV level to 8.8, not reached since 5th July 2019. As a result the temperature recovered to the average, after two cool days, with a peak of 20.2C.

Rain returned in the early hours of Sunday as a modest rain band crossed the area bringing another 4.5mm of rainfall that took the June total 71.0mm, being 132% of the 36-year average. The rain ceased just before 06.30 when the cloud cover began to thin and to break at 08.00 when observations were made.

The overnight minimum of 12.9C was 2.9C above the average and was boosted to 15.3C at 08.00 in the strong bursts of sunshine.