Category: Commentary

Early Sunday afternoon the wind slowly veered from the south to the west with the consequence that the very warm air from Iberia was cut off and replaced by much cooler air from the Atlantic.

The temperature reached a maximum of 19.9C, down 3C on Saturday but still 6C above the April average. Overnight the thermometer dropped steadily away to reach a minimum of 8.0C, the coolest night for a week, but also above average by 4.2C.

Sunday was a dry day with 9.86 hours of strong sunshine and the UV level easing a little higher with a reading of 5.8.

Monday has dawned with broken sunshine and the thermometer easing upward to read 9.7C at 08.00.

Monday update at 16.15: westerly winds bring cooler weather with the maximum of 14.8C down 5C on Sunday and 12C below record set last Thursday, but 0.8C above average.

The very warm air brought to us on the southerly winds from the Azores region gave us another warm day on Saturday with the maximum edging a little higher than Friday giving a maximum of 22.9C being almost 9C above the long-term average.

As often happens in these weather conditions, thunderstorms arrived in the early evening and again between 1am and 2am. The first lightning was observed at 20.28 with frequent flashes for over an hour. The second wave came after midnight. Heavy rain rain fell starting at 21.30 with another lighter shower just after 1am.

The total rain amounted to 4.3mm bringing the total for April to 52.7mm, which is 91% of the April average.

The sun was shining brightly as it moved above the horizon this morning with the promise of more hazy sunshine today.

With a minimum temperature of 11.8C overnight it was the warmest night since 25th October and the ground temperature at a depth of 5cm was 13.3C at 08.00.

Sunday update at 20.30: a change in wind direction from southerly to westerly early afternoon starts to moderate temperature. Maximum down 3C from Saturday but still above average.

We have enjoyed a glorious few days, with the thermometer peaking at 26.5C on Thursday, which beat the record set on 23rd April 2011 by 0.4C. Friday was a little cooler with a maximum of 22.4C being 8C above the long-term average. It was a good time to slip away for a short break!

Overnight the thermometer slowly fell away to a minimum of 8.3C just after 5am.

Saturday has dawned with the sun rising over the horizon and the promise of more strong sunshine. The high pressure has been slowly ebbing away, after the peak reading of 1026.3mb on Wednesday, indicating a change in the weather ahead.

What a transformation a ridge of high pressure makes? Saturday was the warmest day since 24th October with a maximum of 17.6C, some 3.1C above the 34-year average.

There were 9.56 hours of sunshine and the highest UV level, of 4.4, since 14th September.

Friday produced another gloomy and misty day although there was a little brighter interlude mid-afternoon that lifted the temperature to 11.7C, the highest for almost a week and 4C warmer than Thursday but still 2.3C below the April average.

It was a dry day and as the barometric pressure began to rise, gave promise of better weather ahead.

Saturday morning has dawned with thick fog giving visibility down to 100m. However, with the barometer giving a reading of 1016mb at 08.00, the highest for two weeks, better weather is ahead.

Saturday update at 18.00: warmest day since 24th October with maximum of 17.6C, being 3.6C above average and highest UV level since 14th September.