Category: Commentary

The thermometer continued to rise under the influence of the high pressure and during 12.4 hours of strong sunshine. The thermomter peaked at 24.1C, which was 7C above the 36-year average. Overnight the thermometer fell just below average with a minimum of 6.2C being 0.8C below average.

Tuesday arrived with hazy sunshine initially that quickly gained strength and lifted the thermometer to 15.4C at 08.00 making it the warmest start to the day at that time since 27th August. Although overnight was cool the heat is being absorbed into the ground and quickly recovers after dawn. The temperature at a death of 5cm read 18.3C at 08.00.

The centre of the anticyclone has repositioned from the English Channel to the tip of south west Ireland. However, it is still very close so the wind will continue to be light, maximum gust on Monday was 14mph from the west. The current barometric pressure reading of 1035.6mb is the highest since the end of March.

The barometric pressure continued to build on Sunday as the centre of the anticyclone moved nearer to the UK that gave us another dry, sunny day with higher temperatures. The thermometer rose steadily to reach a peak of 20.6C being 3.5C above average during the 11.7 hours of sunshine. The UV rose to the High category for most of the day but briefly edged into the Very High category midday.

The ground and plant life has now evaporated into the atmosphere the equivalent rainfall of 86mm during May.

It was a cool night under clear skies when the thermometer fell well below the average with a minimum of 5.2 (-1.8C) at 05.33 on Monday morning. Initially fog formed in the early hours but quickly lifted into mist after dawn as the sun got work and then cleared by 07.00.

The centre of the anticyclone is now close to Southern England being just south of the Isle of Wight. This has resulted in the highest barometric pressure in two months with a current reading at 08.00 on Monday of 1034.7mb. Not only will this bring fine, dry weather but the very strong, gusty winds have subsided to fall away to a very gentle breeze.

On Saturday there was a considerable pressure gradient as a result of high pressure to the north and low pressure to the south. This squeeze produced very strong westerly winds that continued throughout the day. A maximum gust of 35mph was logged at 16.45 but the wind frequently rose above 30mph. The dwarf beans in my garden had leaves ripped off in some of the strongest gusts.

Not surprisingly the daytime temperatures were depressed not reaching the May average with a maximum of 16.7C (-0.4C). The opposite was true overnight as the thermometer dipped to just 10.4C (+3.4C) at 23.33.

The other significant feature of Saturday was that the dry spell was broken, just. At 10.56 a very brief shower occurred and again just before 11.30. However, the total rainfall was only 0.7mm, not enough to replenish my four empty water butts. The statistics are quite contrasting with the May rainfall total standing at 8.2mm but total evaporation from the ground and plant life being the equivalent rainfall of 86mm.

Sunday had a gloomy start but by 07.00 a little brightness was evident and brief sunny spells were observed after 08.00, lifting the thermometer to 13.2C.

The barometric pressure continues to rise with a current reading of 1029.8mb, the highest this month.

During the 9.3 hours of sunshine on Friday the UV briefly peaked at 8.2 being ‘Very High’ and the highest since 29th July. We lost the continental air that produced the high temperatures recently with a maximum of 19.8, still 2.7C above the average.

It was a very breezy day as the deep depression skirted the western seaboard with a maximum gust of 27mph at 12.49. As the centre of the low eased away from us the barometric pressure began to build again.

Saturday saw strong sunshine after dawn but by 08.00 the cloud had begun to increase limiting the sunshine. The rain radar showed small showers moving north eastwards to the north of the region but as yet no rain for this area to provide a drink for the parched gardens. The wind is still brisk with a gust of 23mph at 08.06.

The thermometer slowly rose to a maximum of 24.7C on Thursday. This was 1C below the Wednesday peak but 7.6C above the May average. The light breeze, with a maximum gust of just 11mph, was predominantly from the west but late afternoon backed into the south under the influence of the approaching depression.

Overnight the cloud built minimising any loss of warmth radiating into the atmosphere thus giving a very mild night. The thermometer sank no lower than 14.4C at 06.07 on Friday morning being 7.4C above the May average and the warmest night since 26th September. The minimum was only 2.7C below the average maximum for May.

The rain bands approaching from the west began to fragment as they approached central southern England with just a few spots of rain noted at 05.30 and nothing thereafter. There were brief strong gusts of southerly westerly wind, up to 17mph at 07.09, as the weather fronts traversed the area.

The hang back of cloud from the deep depression to the north west of the country meant that we were not greeted by glorious sunshine after dawn as on several previous mornings. However, just after 08.00 the clouds were beginning to thin and brief glimpses of brightness were observed.