Category: Commentary

The pool of cool air over the country on Sunday meant a cold day with the thermometer not rising above 9.8C, logged at 15.40. This maximum was a significant 5.1C below my 40-year average, however, it was a dry day, if cloudy, and the wind from the southeast was light during daylight hours.

The minimum of 6.4C was logged at 02.59 early Monday also being below average at -1.0C. After that time the thicker cloud and yet another weather front began to traverse our area bringing another considerable fall of rain amounting to 11.1mm by 08.00 Monday. That additional precipitation took the monthly total to 63.3mm when the 40-year average is 91.0mm.

Monday struggled to arrive under very low, thick cloud cover that was still bringing rain at 08.00 but the backend of the rain band, associated with the warm weather front, is easing away. A mini depression formed in the English Channel and will drift away towards the Continent, although the rain will cease it will leave legacy of a cloudy day. The humidity at 08.00 was, not surprisingly, 99% thanks to the hours of rainfall and low temperatures. The high humidity will persist all day due to the cool, misty conditions.

The wind from the west picked up as the day progressed that combined with a cloudy morning limited the temperature rise to a maximum of 14.7C 13.49, which was 0.2C below average. There was a brief light shower between 10.20 and 11.05 that amounted to 1.0mm of precipitation. Brief sunny intervals then arrived after midday but were limited. The sky was clear overnight that allowed the thermometer to fall away to reach a minimum of 3.7C at 06.33 being 7.7C below average.

By 06.30 on Sunday thin cloud had arrived from the west and obscured any view of the sun after dawn, which allowed the temperature to show a slight rise to 4.5C by 08.00. The wind has backed into a more southerly quadrant, probably from the southeast for the bulk of the day, and be relatively light. The cool air following a cold night then thin high cloud during daylight will mean a very cool day.

Although Friday was dry and bright, with variable sunshine, the cool pool of air still dominated our weather, after a very cold start with -0.4C, with a maximum of 12.8C being 2.1C below my 40-year average. This high was a degree up on the peak of Thursday. Cloud overnight limited the loss of limited warmth with the thermometer not sinking below 7.1C just after midnight.

Saturday revealed a cloudy start to the day with some precipitation possibly imminent from a narrow band of light rain mid-morning, changing to dry and sunny mid-afternoon. The wind will veer from the south into the west or possibly north-northwest as the day progresses.

The high pressure is fading under the influence of low pressure systems to the north and south of the UK. The barometric pressure has dropped 9mb since Friday with a reading of 1008.4mb at 08.00.

The much cooler air stream on Thursday brought on the northerly breeze saw the thermometer struggle to reach a high of 11.7C at 14.39 before beginning to drop back. This maximum was 3.2C below my 40-year average and the coolest day since 27th April. There was a brief shower of light rain and drizzle, starting just before 10.00, that produced 0.2mm of precipitation. The temperature levelled out at a temperature of around 5C until after 03.00 early Friday before clearing skies saw it steadily drop to a minimum of -0.4C at 07.36, being a significant 7.4C below my 40-year average. The thermometer dropped below freezing just after 07.00 and produced not only a ground frost but the frost air frost of the season.

Friday gave us a clear sky and sunshine after sunrise that began to lift the temperature very slowly reaching -0.2C by 08.00. The wind direction has changed from north to come from the southeast for the bulk of the day.

The high pressure system, reaching from mid-Atlantic to Germany, will be around for a couple of days so there will be a few cooler days being mainly dry with variable sunshine.

The maximum of 14.3C at 15.35 on Wednesday was just below average thanks to the persistent cloud cover and cool northwesterly breeze being 0.6C below my 40-year average. There brief occasions when very light drizzle was detected but not measurable , however, overnight another 2.4mm of precipitation was added to the monthly total, now standing at 51.0mm.

The temperature fell away during the early hours of Thursday as a cold front began to push down from the north as the wind veered from the northwest into the north, as forecast, heralding the arrival of the much cooler for stream. The thermometer dropped to its lowest at 07.46, when its downward fall stopped.

Thursday revealed another dreary start to the day with the cool wind from the north and very brief showers of drizzle as the cold front traversed our area.

As the depression moves away today the pressure will continue to rise as a temporary ridge of high pressure begins to assert itself with drier brighter conditions arriving as the day progresses. The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 1004.1mb, and rising steadily, up 17mb since that time on Wednesday.