Category: Commentary

The easterly breeze, a little stronger on Monday, meant a slightly cooler day than on Sunday, with a maximum of 17.4C (+0.3C) at 15.57 even thought we enjoyed 12.3 hour of sunshine.

The loss of equivalent rainfall, as a result of evaporation from plant life and ground sources, was 4.3mm yesterday with the UV level again in the ‘high’ category.

The past night was not quite as cool as the previous night with a minimum of 3.5C, but still below average, (-3.6C) at 05.29. Tuesday morning saw the sun shining after dawn, if initially hazily, with the temperature recovering to 9.4C at 08.00.

Update on Tuesday at 18.25: thermometer rose to 18.6C at 15.50, making it the warmest day this month.

With 12.6 hours of sunshine the thermometer steadily rose to its highest this month with a maximum of 17.8C, which was the warmest day this month. However, the light air movement from the north east, meant that this was only 0.7C above the May average.

The UV level was at the top end of the ‘high’ category with evaporation losing the equivalent rainfall of 4.3mm into the atmosphere.

The clear skies overnight meant another cool night with the minimum of 3.1C recorded at 05.46 Monday morning, which was 4C below average.

The sun was shining through the misty conditions at dawn with the barometric pressure even higher at 08.00, with a reading of 1039.3mb, the highest since 2nd January, hence the dry, sunny and calm conditions.

Saturday saw the anticyclone centred over the UK as the pressure rose to its highest since 25th February with a current reading of 1035.0mb. As a result the wind was light and, with 9.3 hours of sunshine, the thermometer rose to its highest this month with a maximum of 16.1C. However, the breeze from the north west meant that this was still a relatively cool day being 1C below.

Not surprisingly, with clear skies overnight, the thermometer fell away steadily to a minimum of 3.2C at 05.51 Sunday morning, which was almost 3C below the May 35-year average.

Sunday morning saw the sun shining brightly after dawn and the thermometer reading 8.9C at 08.00.

Friday was the 10th successive day with a below average maximum of 15.1C (-2.0C) at 15.02.

After the previous two very wet days it was good to have dry day with 7.7 hours of sunshine and the UV level back into the ‘high’ category.

The thermometer dipped to a minimum of 5.7C at 02.52 Saturday morning, which was 1.4C below average.

There were brief intervals of sunshine after dawn on Saturday with the thermometer having recovered to 8.0C at 08.00.

Thursday was an abysmal day with hours of rain or drizzle that amounted to 18.9mm. This was the wettest day since 24 May 2018, which was an exceptionally wet day that saw 31.9mm recorded. The rainfall for May currently stands at 54.3mm, which is 89% of the 35-year average after only eight days.

There were glimpses of sunshine that totalled 3.2hours but the UV level was only ‘moderate’, the lowest level in a fortnight.

Not surprisingly, with all the thick cloud and precipitation, the thermometer struggled to reach 11.8C being a significant 5.3C below average and the coldest day since 27th April.

The cloud dispersed overnight leaving a clear sky at dawn with a minimum for 1.7C at 05.54. After broken cloud, by 08.00 on Friday the sun was beginning to shine more strongly that lifted the temperature to 6.8C.