Category: Commentary

Although Storm Ciara had moved off to Scandinavia the after effects of the low pressure were still felt on Monday as the winds were very stormy with a maximum gust of 42mph at 17.30.

There were frequent squally showers in the past twenty-four hours that amounted to 6.3mm bringing the monthly total to 28.5mm when the 35-year average is 64.9mm. The modest rain totals resulting from Storm Ciara are far less than has been recorded in many other areas, which also applies the extreme wind speeds. Once again the local area has got off lightly, fortunate.

Tuesday arrive with the winds having moderated somewhat, but still strong, producing a wind chill as the polar air all the way from Greenland mes itself felt.

The thermometer struggled to a maximum of 7.4C on Monday, the first below average maximum this month (-0.1C) and down almost 5C on the Sunday maximum. The minimum of 2.9C was recorded at 07.36 (+1.6C) Tuesday morning.

Sunday saw the effects of Storm Ciara as winds were exceptionally strong all day, gusting to a maximum of 51mph at 08.22, the strongest since 2nd January 2018.

There was light rain all day interspersed with heavy bursts, amounting to 9.7mm. A vicious squall line passed through just after 18.30 that stretched from Devon to Oxford.

The temperature rose unusually high for early February reaching a peak of 12.2C at 13.47 before falling back to a minimum of 4.3C early Monday.

Monday morning was less boisterous, although still breezy, with the thermometer reading 5.8C at 08.00 and the humidity very much lower at 76%.

Saturday was the calm before the storm with 3.2 hours of sunshine and a modest breeze. The thermometer rose to 10.3C at 14.05, being almost 3C above average, before dropping back to 7.4C at 19.00. Just after midnight the thermometer began to recover so that at 08.00 Sunday it read 10.6C.

As Storm Caira approached the UK the wind very slowly began to increase from Saturday morning. However, it wasn’t until early Sunday morning that the storm force winds began to reach us with a maximum gust at 05.34 of 47mph.

Modest rainfall, many from drizzle, amounted to 1.3mm.

The barometric pressure continues to fall rapidly with a current reading at 08.00 of 993.9mb

Friday provided more sunshine, 4.1 hours but was breezy with the wind gusting to 25mph.

The maximum of 8.2C was just above average whereas the minimum overnight of 6.0C was 4.7C above average.

Saturday arrived with thin but total cloud cover, the cloud base being high with the prospect of some brightness later.

Thursday brought us a dry day with 4.6 hours of sunshine and the UV level at 1.1, the highest strength since 7th November.

The initial fog slowly cleared by 11.00 to allow the sun to raise the thermometer from its low start of -2.3 to a maximum of 8.7C being 1.2C above average.

Overnight the fog returned, limiting viability at dawn to 300m and allowing the temperature to fall to a low of 0.8C. The barometric pressure has fallen from its high of 1037.9mb to 1019.6mb as the anticyclone eases away over the continent and the next depression, named Storm Ciara, to approach the UK.