Category: Commentary

The heavy cloud and moist air continued on Wednesday although it was not quite so gloomy as on Tuesday; there was a brief brighter period when we enjoyed 6 minutes of strong sunshine!

The milder air, then from a more westerly duration, meant a maximum of 12.4C, being 2.4C above the average and a minimum of 9.0C, which was a considerable 5.3C above the 33-year average and the mildest night for almost a month.

There was no rainfall yesterday and throughout the twenty-four hours very light winds with a maximum gust of just 8mph.

Tuesday:

Solar Energy: lowest since 15th February
Evapotranspiration: lowest since 18th October
UV level: lowest since 15th February
Sunshine: third day this month without strong sunshine.
Global sunshine: zero, the only occasion this month and just once in October

The thick low cloud was responsible for the statistics above, again due to the presence of a transitory weather front. Rainfall totalling 0.7mm fell in a shower just before 2.15pm.

This morning dawned murky with hill fog, restricting visibility to 100m.

The thermometer on Tuesday reached 10.2C, fractionally above the average. Due to the thick blanket of cloud during the night the temperature fell very little to a minimum of 9.4C, which was nearly 6C above the average.

Although the brisk northwesterly winds were abating yesterday, we still felt the effects of the air, which had originated from the Arctic, as the thermometer struggled to reach a maximum of just 6.3C, the coldest day since 12th February.

As the late afternoon progressed the temperature slowly fell away until a minimum of 4.7C reached just after 8.0pm, when there was a rise of about 1C. During the latter half of the night the thermometer picked up to 8.0C at 08.00.

There was a brief light rain shower amounting to 05mm.

This morning is grey and dull with medium cloud and a light breeze from the west.

The Arctic Maritime airmass on Sunday meant that the thermometer struggled to give us a maximum of just 7.3C, which was the coldest day since 28th February and almost 3C below the 33-year average. The wind gained strength from early morning to bring a maximum gust of 25mph and producing significant wind chill that made the temperatures feel 3C colder.

The barometric pressure was rising from the nose of high pressure that gave us 3.1 hours of strong sunshine yesterday and the highest barometric pressure since 17th June at 08.00 this morning with a reading of 1026.7mb.

Although there was an air frost with the thermometer dropping to -0.4C, there have been two nights with lower minima this month. However, the colder day and night have meant that the soil temperature at a depth of 5cm has dropped to 1.6C, the coldest since 28th February.

Just after 10.15 on Friday, when the maximum of 12.4C was reached, the wind began to veer into the north with the thermometer dropping 2C rapidly and then falling consistenty until this morning.This heralded the arrival of the Arctic Maritime Airmass having originated from the Arctic and travelled over a considerable expanse of sea before arriving in the UK, which has modified the extremely cold air mass.

Just after dawn today the minimum of 5.0C was recorded with the first recordable windchill this month so that it felt more like 4C.

The cloud is extensive this morning but there were early glimpses of the sun around 8am.

Update at 12.00: Temperature 6.5C but wind chill makes it feel like 3C