Friday 31st July
Although not a heatwave high on Thursday, it was only just below the threshold with a maximum of 26.3C at 13.52, due to variable cloud associated with the weather front and a westerly breeze. It was only after the weather front had cleared southern England late in the afternoon that the cooler air stream arrived that resulted in a minimum of 11.0C overnight at 04.57, being below the July average at -1.0C.
Bright sunshine announced a new day on Friday that had lifted the temperature to 15.3C by 08.00. The cooler airstream will be pushed down across the country on a breeze that will vary from north-northwest to west-northwest. It will arrive from a more northerly part of the Atlantic squeezed between the low pressure centred between Iceland and Scandinavia rotating anticlockwise and the elongated high pressure reaching from Iberia towards Greenland with the peripheral air rotating clockwise.
The forecast track of the jet stream does indicate that it will remain fragmented for a few days continuing the recent pattern of dry and very warm weather. However, there are signs in the forecast track that by the second week in August it might re-group and allow very hot air to again flood the country with peak temperatures once again reaching or exceeding the heatwave threshold. The likelihood of any meaningful rainfall in the short term looks minimal at the moment.
Savill Gardens.
Eric Savill (1895–1980) was the grandson of Alfred Savill the founder of a large firm of estate agents. He fought in the First World War, and in 1916 his life was saved by Theodore Veale in an act of exceptional gallantry for which Veale was awarded the Victoria Cross. Savill was involved in managing Windsor Great Park, initially as Deputy Ranger from 1930, and then Director of Gardens from 1962 to 1970. He founded the National Collection of Magnolias in the park, and two gardens, one later called the Savill Garden, opened to the public in 1951. Savill was awarded a knighthood in 1955.
In June 2006, a specially designed new Visitor Centre, the Savill Building was opened. The timber for the floor and roof came from the Windsor Estate