The Arctic air mass on Wednesday meant the thermometer struggled to get above freezing with a maximum of just 1.5C at 13.04. This peak was 5.6C below my 40-year average and the coldest day since 1st December 2023 (0.7C). Under clear skies overnight the temperature slowly descended to reach a low of -5.9C at 06.51 early Thursday making it the coldest night since 25th January 2023 (-7.7C) and a significant 7.1C below my 40-year average.
Clear skies saw the sun shining brightly after sunrise on Thursday, not total cloud cover as yesterday. The air temperature had lifted a degree to read -4.9C at 08.00. Once again this month the air was relatively dry at that time with a humidity of 86%.
The cold is seeping further into the ground as the soil temperature at a depth of 5cm read -2.3C at 08.00, being 2.1C lower than yesterday.
The high pressure in the Atlantic is beginning to affect our weather today as the pressure is currently rising fast with a reading of 1005.6mb at 08.00, up 13mb since that time on Wednesday. It has also meant the air stream today is coming from the northwest as against northeast yesterday, also less strong.