Friday was a decidedly chilly day as the northwesterly wind was brisk, gusting to a peak of 26mph, that depressed the temperatures and produced a wind chill at times so that it felt a degree cooler outside than indicated on the thermometer. The maximum of 14.1C was 3.4C above average but under clear skies overnight the thermometer fell away steadily reaching a low -0.8C at 05.58 early Saturday before the sun got work. This minimum was 3.5C below average and produced an air frost, being the coldest night since the 19th, also -0.8C.
Saturday began with glorious sunshine under the ridge of high pressure, there was a little thin cloud band around 07.30 that temporarily limited the strength of the sun, however, by 08.00 the thermometer had risen to 5.6C.
The solar eclipse today is expected to start at 10.07 in the UK with maximum coverage happening at 11.03 and ending at 12.00.
I am involved in meteorological research today for the department of Climate and Meteorology at Lincoln University, linked with the Met Office, which involves logging five items of weather data at one minute intervals during the eclipse period and ten minute intervals before and after that period for the rest of the day. My weather station is naturally aspirated and radiation shielded, which is vital for this research, it also logs most details at one minute intervals but I will need to record a specific detail every minute.
The images since yesterday, and for the next week, were taken by me in early April 2015 for much of the Marlborough in Bloom portfolio and presentation, when we were awarded ‘Gold’. These are the scenes we can look forward to in the coming weeks as the temperature begins to rise again.