Sunday 11th January
Saturday gave us many hours of welcome sunshine under the transitory ridge of high pressure. The downside was the brisk wind from the northwest that continued the flow of cool air. The other factor in limiting the rise to a maximum of 4.1C at 13.48, being 3.0C below average, was the sharp frost during the previous night that took a while to lift, the temperature not getting above freezing until 10.08.
During Saturday evening, under clear skies, the temperature began to drop steadily, with a minimum of -2.9C logged at 22.12. The radar after midnight showed cloud beginning to drift across, whilst the breeze picked up after several hours of calm. At 01.09 the anemometer showed a change in wind direction to south, which is why the temperature climbed above freezing at 01.52.
By 08.00 on Sunday the thermometer had risen to 3.8C, thanks to a brisk wind from the south. The rest of the day will bring no sunshine as we are now under the influence of an Atlantic weather pattern. The barometric pressure is currently falling rapidly as the next depression closes in on the UK that has seen the wind strength rise steadily since 01.00.
The coming week will see the continuation of moist, warmer air arriving from the Atlantic as one, then a second, low-pressure system arrives from the west. The result will be temperatures rising to or above average but an unsettled period with brisk winds, especially over the next two days, before a minor ridge on Wednesday brings a calmer day following a cold night.
The local river levels have been rising a little after the modest rainfall last week and the melting of light snow from recent days. The heron in my image can now stand in 0.17m of water today in the River Kennet, following a dry period at the end of last year.