On Wednesday a cold front moved down from the north and on Thursday the reverse happened as a warm front arrived mid-morning that saw the thermometer rise from around 4C to 11C by 11.00. There was a short lived brighter period between 11.45 and 12.45 but otherwise another cloudy day. The maximum of 11.9C occurred at 12.49 at the end of the bright period. The past night was mild with the thermometer not dropping below 9.6C at 05.22 on Friday.
Intermittent drizzle and light rain was observed from 15.15 with more consistent rain late afternoon and the main rain band ceasing at 22.00, although there were intermittent short light showers during the night. The daily rainfall amounted to 23.9mm, which was the wettest day since 4th January (29.3mm) that took the monthly total 53.2mm. That total is 81% of my 40-year average within the first week of February.
Friday dawned dull under low, thick cloud that draped the Marlborough Downs and Savernake Forest.
We are currently under the influence of a deep depression, currently centred off the west coast of Ireland, with a centre pressure of just 963mb and deepening. The barometric pressure here at 08.00 was 975.7mb, the lowest pressure since 2nd November. The depression will continue to throw cloud across our area for most of the day on a moist, warm southwesterly breeze, initially brisk, but dying down during the afternoon.