Category: Commentary

Tuesday was a bright day with several hours of welcome sunshine that boosted the thermometer to a maximum of 10.0C at 13.26 being just 0.3C below the average, a very welcome dry and calm day after the turbulent weekend thanks to Storm Bert. The thermometer dropped away in the early hours to reach a minimum of 4.2C at 08.00 on Wednesday, just 0.2C above the average.

Overnight the cloud built up and the wind strengthened as Storm Conall, named by the Dutch Weather Service as they will suffer the greatest impact from it, passed over southern England with the first rainfall observed at 21.30 amounting to 7.9mm by 08.00. The pressure at the centre of the depression is still falling. That additional precipitation took the monthly rainfall above average for the first time in November reaching 95.9mm being 4mm above the 40-year average. The wind veered into the north in the early hours as Storm Conall drifted eastwards and strengthened producing wind chill again so that at 08.00 it felt more like 1C outside than the 4.2C indicated on the thermometer.

Wednesday struggled to come to life as the residual cloud and drizzle from the Storm Conall weather front draped the Marlborough Downs and Savernake Forest so a very dull and gloomy beginning to the new day. Storm Conall is slowly edging eastwards into the southern North Sea and then Denmark so gradually the cloud will lift, probably after midday, and the drizzle cease. The barometric pressure has fallen to 1000.9.mb at 8.00 but it is now beginning to rise again as a short lived ridge of high pressure begins to edge in to improve the weather for tomorrow.

Incidentally, the three new images on the website were taken in 1984 after the great storm that felled so many trees in Savernake Forest.

Although the breeze picked up on Monday afternoon the morning and evening were very calm after Storm Bert. The thermometer reached a high of 10.8C at 11.42 in the welcome sunshine, which was 0.5C above the average. During the late afternoon and evening the temperature began to drop away to reach a low of 3.0C at 07.17 early Tuesday, which was 1.0C below the average.

It was, thankfully, a dry day with some weak UV light that did trigger the sensor, if briefly, against the no show for the previous two days under the thick, continuous cloud.

Tuesday brought a brought start to the new day with the promise of sunshine as the pressure has been rising due to Storm Bert moving away eastwards with its the centre now over Scandinavia. The barometric pressure has risen 24mb over the past forty-eight hours to read 1014.8mb at 08.00.

A small depression has recently formed off the west coast that will travel across southern England today with an associated weather front that is predicted to bring more rain late evening and overnight. As a result the wind will back from southwest into a southeasterly quadrant as the afternoon progresses but remain light.

Incidentally,the images I have recently uploaded were from the storm in 1984, not from the past weekend, but seemed appropriate.

Storm Bert brought us another day on Sunday with many continuous hours of steady rain that gave a daily total of 32.1mm. That took the monthly total to exactly 88mm being 3.7mm below my 40-year average for November. Storm Bert brought us in total 59.3mm of precipitation. The day started at 08.00 with a temperature of 16.8C that crept up to 17.1C at 08.41 and then began to very slowly fall away as the day progressed. That maximum was 6.9C above my long-term average. The minimum occurred at 07.55 on Monday with a low of 8.3C, which coincided with the thick cloud easing away over the eastern horizon followed by a clearing sky. A maximum gust of 40mph was logged at 14.01.

Monday after dawn saw the last of the weather front departing the eastern horizon to leave much blue sky and the end of the almost 48 hours of continuous rainfall.

Storm Bert is now centred off the northeast of Scotland and will continue to feed a southwesterly airstream but thankfully no rain and much calmer conditions. The barometric pressure has already risen 7mb since 07.00 on Sunday.

The thermometer read 8.1C at 08.00 on Saturday and rose almost continuously all day, and through the night, to reach an exceptional 16.9C at 08.00 on Sunday, which was 6.6C above my 40-year average. It was the highest November maximum since 12th November 2022 (17.5C). Therefore the maximum temperature was logged when it is usually the minimum. The wind was strong all day from the southwest and increased in the early hours with a peak of 36mph logged at 06.34. The rain was almost continuous over the last twenty-four hours and totalled 27.2mm that took the monthly total to 27.2mm when the average is 91.7mm. It was the wettest day since 23rd September (43.4mm).

It was the first occasion that no evaporation was logged since that apparatus was installed due to the almost continuous rain over twenty-four hours. No UV light triggered the sensor also the solar energy sensor briefly flickered on then off again.

Sunday after dawn revealed a sky thick with low cloud and the wind still blowing strongly although a short break from the rain, that began again at 08.20.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm has recovered significantly from the 0.9C on Friday to 13.1C at the same time today.

The centre of Storm Bert is just off the west coast of Scotland that will continue the strong winds all day, slowly abating after midday. The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 992.2mb, the lowest since 9th October. The centre of the depression had a extremely low pressure reading of 941.2mb at midnight and a forecast pressure of 952mb at midday so producing a severe pressure gradient with the isobars showing very tightly packed on the surface pressure chart.

Friday was the last of the very cool days that saw the thermometer hover around 6C for much of the day and drop away in the evening. The maximum of 6.9C was logged at 12.40 being 3.4C below my 40-year average and the minimum of -0.7C was logged in the evening at 19.51 being 4.7C below average.

After 20.00 on Friday evening thin cloud began to drift across ahead of the main weather front that saw the thermometer begin to slowly rise reaching 0C at 21.38 and 1C at 22.15. After midnight the warmer air began to flood across our area that saw the thermometer rise to 8.1C by 08.00 on Saturday as a warm front crossed southern England. The limited rain after 05.00 amounted to 3.2mm as we are on the periphery of the intense rain area at the moment.

Saturday revealed a wet start to the new day but so much milder. The temperature of 8.1C meant it was the warmest start to a day at that time since the 14th.

Storm Bert is currently off the coast of Northern Ireland with the centre of the depression falling rapidly with an extreme low just 937mb at 08.00. The barometric pressure is dropping rapidly here with a pressure of 1003.7mb logged at 08.00. Being so far from the coast we will not experience the extremes of wind gusts with a high of 21mph so far the morning but it is rising.

When the high winds have ceased there won’t be many late autumn leaves left on the trees!