Category: Commentary

Friday saw the thermometer climb well above the average (+4.1C) again with a maximum of 11.1C, brought on a southerly breeze gusting to a maximum of 26mph.

There was a little rainfall of just 1.2mm bring the monthly total to 92.5mm, which was 2.1mm above the 35-year average.

Overnight cloud meant another mild night when the thermometer hovered around 10C for much of the night but as the cloud cleared away to the east an hour before dawn the temperature dropped to a minimum of 7.5C being a significant 6.4C above the 35-year average.

Saturday saw broken cloud and bright periods as the morning progressed.

Update on Saturday at 14.44: wind strength increasing last few hours with a gust of 40mph at 14.18.

On Thursday the thermometer rose to a maximum of 11.6C, which was a significant 4.6C above the 35-year average but exceeded on two previous days in January. Aa on previous occasions a plume of air from mid-Atlantic brought moist but warm air, giving another gloomy day without sunshine, the twelfth this month.

The overnight minimum was 8.7C, which was not only 7.6C above the 35-year minimum average but 1.7C above the average maximum for January.

A little moisture was recorded, just 0.6mm, that brought the monthly total to 91.3mm, just above average.

Friday arrived with thick cloud and its base so low it was shrouding the Marlborough Downs and Savernake Forest.

Wednesday gave us a dry day with 4.6 hours of sunshine, predominantly in the morning, broken in the afternoon. The UV level at 0.9 was the highest since early November, evidence that the sun is slowly getting stronger.

It was a mild day with the thermometer climbing to 9.0C at 14.04 in the modest south westerly breeze being 3C above average.

Sadly, overnight the thick cloud again filled in the sky giving murky, gloomy damp conditions. The blanket of cloud meant a mild night with the thermometer not dropping below 6.6C, which was 5.5C above the 35-year average.

After the low temperature on Tuesday morning and the light snow cover the thermometer struggled to reach 5.0C in the very brisk westerly wind. This maximum was 2.0C below average. Likewise the minimum of 0.6C this morning was 1.8C below average and produced a ground frost.

There was 0.6mm of precipitation on Tuesday that brought the monthly total to 90.6mm, just 0.2mm above the 35-year average.

After the lowest barometric pressure this month on Tuesday morning the pressure has been building for the past twenty-four hours as a ridge builds over the country. Wednesday saw clear skies after dawn with the promise of sunshine.

Monday started with a little brightness but soon the cloud thickened and rain began to fall just after noon but was intense between 14.15 and 14.30.

The maximum temperature of 7.3C occurred at 13.15 as the cloud thickened ahead of the rain arriving, being 0.3C above the average. Overnight the minimum was 2.3C until just before dawn when the thermometer dropped to 0.6C, being 0.5C below average.

During the early hours of Tuesday morning, starting at 01.45 and heavy at 02.00, more showers occurred and as the temperature dropped to around 2.5C, they fell as sleet and snow. The precipitation for January now stands at exactly 90mm, which is 0.6mm below the 35-year average.

Tuesday arrived with thin, high cloud and weak sunshine as the sun rose above the local eastern horizon at 07.56.