Category: Commentary

Tuesday continued the run of dry days with wall to wall strong sunshine that started at 05.39 and Very High UV levels.

Tuesday: Maximum temperature of 28.7C at 17.47
Sunshine: 16.72 hours
Humidity minimum: 26%
Minimum temperature: 7.8C at 05.12 Wednesday
Sunshine record triggered: 05.25 on Wednesday
Sunshine this month: 182 hours
Rain this month: 5.3mm

Wednesday update at 18.00: maximum temperature of 27.0C at 17.08, which was 1.7C below the peak on Tuesday that was the highest this month.

On Monday the heat grew throughout the day with a maximum of 28.6C late in the afternoon at 17.46.

The wind was light meandering between north and north east with a maximum gust of 11mph but mostly around 4-7mph.

The air is notably very dry from this direction and with little rain this month the ground has no surface moisture. The humidity has varied between 67% and 74% on recent mornings with it normally in the 90s.

The thermometer fell to 9.1C at 05.12 before the sun got to work and raised this to 19.8C at 08.00, the warmest morning at this time since 9th July.

Monday gave us 16.68 hours of wall to wall sunshine bringing the total for June to 165 hours. The sun triggered the sunshine recorder at 05.39 this morning and continues to shine.

Tuesday update at 14.30: temperature of 27.6 with extremely low humidity at this time of just 29%.

Update at 16.15: temperature eased up to 28.4C.

Update at 18.00: maximum temperature of 28.7C at 17.47,which was 0.1C higher than on Monday.

The effect of the high pressure now centred over the UK has been to give us the sunniest day this month on Sunday with 15.51 hours of strong sunshine. We have now enjoyed 148 hours of strong sunshine this month.

The UV level has reached ‘Very High’ for the past seven days.

Another dry day and no rain in the forecast this week so it looks as if this June will be a record breaking dry month.

Clear skies overnight again meant a cool night with the thermometer dipping to 7.1C at 05.20 this morning that had recovered to 18.2C at 08.00.

Sunshine was evident as soon as the sun got up this morning triggering the sunshine recorder (100w/sq.m.) just after 05.30.

Monday update at 14.45: temperature at 27.2C with humidity just 35%.

Update at 16.30: temperature at 27.9C, which is 82.2F

Maximum of 28.6C (83.5F)reached at 17.46.

Saturday was another dry, sunny and warm day with the peak temperature at 16.06 of 23.6C, This was 2C and 5C up respectively on the two previous days and 3.6C above average.

After another dry day the rainfall for June still stands at 5.3mm when the 34-year average is 54.5. The driest June I have recorded since 1984 was in 1995 with 12.5mm then 14.4mm in 1996. With no rain in the current forecast for the next week will the record be broken?

Saturday night was less cool than of late with the thermometer falling to 9.3C, just below average for June.

Sunday dawned with strong sunshine emerging through a slightly hazy sky with the thermometer recovering to 15.2C at 08.00.

Sunday update at 16.40: getting warmer each day with 18.6C, 21.6C, 23.6C and 24.6C today.

The high pressure (1031.3mb) made itself felt on Friday with 15.45 hours of sunshine, the highest daily total this month, and also the highest daily solar energy.

Not surprisingly, the temperature by day recovered to rise 1.6C above average with a peak of 21.6C. But as occurred during the previous night, the clear skies meant a cool night with an identical minimum of 5.8C, which was 5.1C below the 34-year average.

Saturday dawned with broken cloud and strong sunshine that by 08.00, when records were taken, had raised the temperature to 14.5C with more continuous sunshine.