Sunday saw the wind back from the Northeast initially into the North then n]Northwest, which meant a cleaner air. We enjoyed almost wall to wall sunshine, except for the occasional fleeting small fluffy cloud.
Bot maximum and minimum were above average with 12.4C (+2.1C) and 5.2C (+3.1C) respectively.
Monday saw the sun shine brightly as it rose above the horizon with the promise of another sunny day with high pressure beginning to build again.
Saturday brought us 8.2 hours of sunshine and a rise in temperature to a maximum of 12.6C, being 2.3C above average, at 13.25. The UV level rose into the ‘Moderate’ category with a reading of 3.5, which was the highest since 3rd October.
With much less cloud cover overnight the temperature fell away steadily to a minimum of 3.2C at 06.48 this morning, Sunday. The sun was evident as it rose above the horizon lifting the temperature to 6.9C at 08.00 in a mainly cloudless sky.
Friday brought even thicker and duller conditions with the temperature down on Thursday producing a maximum of 10.7C (+0.4C). The night was cooler but still above average with a minimum of 6.6C (+4.5C).
Saturday arrived with the cloud looking a little thinner after dawn and the temperature at 08.00 of 8.1C.
Thursday was another gloomy day with continuous heavy cloud.
Both Wednesday and Thursday were very similar dominated by low, thick cloud. Evaporation was 0.73mm on both days, both days were dry with wind coming from the west and peak gusts of 13mph and 14mph respectively. Global sunshine was identical for both days at 6.8 w/m2 with minima 8.2C and 8.1C respectively.
Thursday saw both maximum and minimum temperatures above average with 12.3C (+2.0C) and 8.1C (+6C).
Friday arrived with the same gloomy start to the day.
Although Wednesday was another gloomy day with constant but variable cloud the UV level at 3.2 was the highest since 4th October as the sun’s strength slowly builds. The barometric pressure, reading 1033.3mb at 0800 today, Thursday, has been rising steadily for two days but trapped below it is a thick cloud and with little wind, peak gust yesterday was just 14mph, does little to break up the cloud blanket. With little brightness, the thermometer did rise above average (+1.4C) with a maximum of 11.7C.
That cloud blank meant a very mild night with the thermometer not falling below 8.2C, which was 6.1C above average. However, the penalty is that Thursday morning arrived with the cloud base so low it is draping itself over the Marlborough Downs and Savernake Forest.
The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm read 9.1C today, the warmest since mid-December.