Category: Commentary

Friday was another day in the succession of wet, gloomy days that have been so frequent in November. The thermometer did rise a little higher than previous days with a maximum of 8.3C but that was still 1.8C below average.

After a wet morning the afternoon was a little drier but further rain fell in the early hours of Saturday although the daily total was only 2.8mm. This moved the rainfall total for autumn from fifth to fourth highest since this station started in 1984.

Saturday started with thick cloud and light rain but a little milder with a temperature at 08.00 of 8.1C being the warmest start to the day since 5th November. A depression centred over the Bay of Biscay is slowly rotating anticlockwise, as they do, throwing up much cloud and frequent showers.

With the wind persisting from the north east for most of the day the thermometer hovered around 3.7C. However with the wind veering into the south late evening the thermometer eased upwards a fraction to give a reading of 6.8C at 03.52 Friday morning before dropping back to 4.4C at 08.00.

Another 4.5mm of rainfall was added to the total bringing the November reading to 81.9mm. However, this is still only the fifth wettest November since the station opened in 1984.

The hang back of heavy cloud from the latest weather front eased away to the east after dawn giving a brighter start to the day before more showers move in.

Wednesday was a gloomy day with minimal solar energy but it was dry day, the third consecutive dry day.The brisk wind, gusting to 24mph in the late morning, meant the temperatures were depressed again with a maximum of only 7.2C being 2.9C below average.

The stronger wind produced a wind chill that meant it felt a couple of degrees colder than indicated on the thermometer.

Cloud cover overnight, ahead of the next weather front approaching from the Atlantic, meat no frost but with a minimum of only 2.7C was still 1.1C below average.

Thursday saw thick cloud cover at dawn as the next rain band edged closer. The significant change was that the wind had backed a few degrees and then coming from the east. With a temperature of 3.9C at 08.00 the wind chill meant it felt more like 1.4C.

Tuesday brought us little sunshine, just 1 hour unlike the very sunny day on Monday. The significant change was in the wind direction having moved from a northerly direction to a come from the south east.

It was a dry day, the fifth this month but another cool day with the thermometer not rising above 7.5C,being 2.6C belwo average.

Overnight cloud meant frost free night with the thermometer not sinking below 5.8C, which was 2C above average.

Wednesday arrived with complete cloud cover and the wind still coming from the south east. However, the humidity at 08.00 was 90% being the lowest since 30th October.

With a ridge of high pressure sandwiched between two depressions to the west and east of the UK, Monday brought us 5.7 hours of sunshine, making it the sunniest day since 27th October. However, regardless of the sunshine it was a cool day due to a brisk wind from the north, falling out completely overnight, which produced a maximum of 7.7C being 2.4C below average.

The clearer skies and still conditions overnight meant the temperature tumbled to a minimum of -2.5C at 03.35 Tuesday morning. Encroaching cloud meant that the temperature staged a mild recovery to -1.1C at 08.00 Tuesday morning when variable cloud allowed the occasional bright period.