Category: Commentary

Having had a bright start on Friday, heavy snow showers arrived just after 10.00,lasting for almost half an hour. It was mainly wet snow totalling 0.6mm and did not settle, quickly melting where the ground was damp.

In between the variable cloud we enjoyed 4.1 hours of sunshine.

By evening the clearer skies meant an air frost with the thermometer falling away to a minimum of -2.1 at 04.42 this morning.

Advancing cloud from the next rain bearing weather front then started to advance so that at 08.00 the thermometer had risen above freezing with a reading 0.9C.

The thickening cloud heralds the arrival of the next weather front with the rainfall radar indicating several hours of rain today.

The wind, having backed into the south on Thursday, produced the mildest day for a week with a maximum of 6.4C, just below average for February, late afternoon. The temperature showed very little change until just before 03.00 this morning. It was a dry but overcast day with just 6 minutes of sunshine.

Rain drops began to fall just after 22.00 last night ahead of substantial rain, heavy at times, that lasted until around 03.00 with showers just after 05.00. With 13.2mm of precipitation, this was the wettest twenty-four hour period since 21st January.

Cloud began to clear away to the east this morning as the pressure began to rise again, which meant a drop of 4C to a reading of 2.2C at 08.00, with the sun after dawn appearing though broken cloud.

Update at 10.15: Snow shower, temperature 2.8C and wind chill -1C

Wednesday was a glorious day from the start with 7.78 hours of sunshine although the brisk northerly wind meant a cold day as the thermometer did not get above freezing until 09.45 then struggled to reach a maximum of 3.4C, some 4C below the 34-year February average.

The temperature steadily fell away late afternoon and evening with sub-zero temperatures until it reached a minimum of -1.5C just before 03.30. At that time the advancing cloud began to lift the temperature to reach 1.6C at 08.00.

This morning has dawned grey with thin cloud obscuring the sun and the temperature beginning to recover as the wind has backed into the south.

Maxima for the last five days:
7.1C, 5.1C, 4.3C, 3.6C and 2.8C

The maximum of 2.8C on Tuesday was recorded at 14.42 before a large area of cloud obscured the sun in advance of greater cloud cover. It took until 10.30 for the thermometer to rise above 0C and was the coldest day since 8th January.

Snow fell just before midnight as a narrow band of precipitation crossed the area, initially rain that froze on the ground with light snow on top. The total precipitation was 0.8mm.

We enjoyed 5.4 hours of sunshine with the UV level of 1.1 the highest this month as on the 2nd February.

As the cloud cleared after midnight the thermometer began to fall again reaching 0C at 01.00 this morning and giving a minimum of -2.8C at 08.00.

The sun made an appearance at dawn in a sky with minimal cloud but will take a while before it has any affect on the light snow covering and ice. Fortunately the wind is very light so no great wind chill at 08.00 but a wind chill at 06.00 meant that it felt more like -4.6C just before 06.00.

Although we enjoyed 5.56 hours of sunshine on Monday the northerly, brisk winds pegged back the temperature by day to a maximum of only 3.6C. The peak was reached at 14.54 and was almost 4C below the 34-year February average. This low made it the coldest day since 8th December.

There was no rain yesterday but the wind, gusting most of the day with a peak of 21mph, meant that wind chill was again evident as this effectively dropped the temperature so that if felt 3C colder.

Clear skies overnight meant that the thermometer fell to zero at 21.45 and a minimum off -3.2C at 07.04. This low was almost 5C below the February average.

This morning has dawned with bright sunshine once the sun rose above the cloud belt to the east, with the thermometer recovering slightly to -2.6C at 08.00.

Update at 15.00: maximum temperate reached today was just 2.8C