A transient ridge of high pressure brought very different weather on Thursday with blue skies, four hours of sunshine and the first dry day since the 9th. However, the very brisk wind from the north meant a cold day with the thermometer struggling to reach a maximum of 4.7C at 12.47, which was 3.3C below average and the first below average maximum since the 5th. There was also significant wind chill that outside it felt at least 2C colder than that registering on the thermometer.
Overnight the thermometer fell steadily to reach a minimum of -1.2C at 06.47 being 3.6C below the 36-year average.
The cold air from the north meant it was the coldest Christmas Eve day since 2010 when the thermometer that year refused to move above freezing with a maximum of -0.1C. The cold northerly airstream persisted this past night that meant it was the coldest night since Christmas Eve of 2010 but then the frost was severe as the thermometer dropped to -6.8C.
Christmas Day in 2020 arrived with blue sky and the promise of more sunshine thanks to the high pressure that is at its highest all month with a current reading at 08.00 of 1033.6mb. The thermometer at that time registered -0.6C but wind chill meant it felt more like -2.9C. There was a little whiteness however that was not snow on Christmas Day but frost!
