Dramatic changes in twenty-four hours

The tropical air was still in place for the first part of Wednesday with the thermometer reaching 16.9C being 2.2C above average. However, as storm Aurore, named by Meteo-France, moved eastwards along the English Channel and Southern England, a dramatic change occurred in our weather.

Just after 1600 the wind began to veer from the southwest to southeast then northeast mid-evening before coming from the north at midnight and northwest at 0100 on Thursday. This swift change in wind direction was due to the changing position of the depression as it moved eastwards.

Rain from the depression was noted just before 1950 and continued for four hours, often heavy, producing another 20.3mm of rainfall that brought the monthly total to 89.1mm being 4mm above the 37-year average.

The average number of daily rainfall totals exceeding 20mm is 2.6 for the year but it has occurred three times in October and once in September. The record was 6 in 2014.

The temperature after 0300 began to drop, due to the change in wind direction, and fell to 7.3C at 0800 on Thursday. The strength of the wind from this direction and fall in temperature meant windchill occurred so that 7.3C felt more like 6.0C at that time.

The last of the cloud from the depression was seen in the southeast at dawn and the sun began to rise above it just before 0800.

The wind from the northwest is a drier air current that saw the humidity drop to 76% at 0800 on Thursday, not seen that low at that time of day since 20th July.

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