Wednesday 22nd April
Tuesday was another very cool day as the pesky wind from the east-northeast was strong again, that, combined with variable cloud and limited sunshine meant the maximum of 13.9C was 0.4C below average. In fact, due to wind chill it felt very cool outside, especially when the sun was blocked by variable cloud. The past night was also below average with the thermometer dropping to a minimum of 3.2C at 05.05.
Wednesday began with misty conditions, not the thick cloud of Tuesday morning. As the sun gets to work it is likely the mist will burn away quite quickly that will give us a sunny day with much more sun than previous days.
This morning when reading my instruments and logging my data I noticed a most unusual metrological fact that the minimum overnight temperature (3.2C), the humidity (90.5%) and temperature at 08.00 (5.9C) were identical to those logged on Tuesday.
The high pressure will continue to dominate our weather up to and including the weekend. Unfortunately, this will mean the wind will continue from an easterly direction, however, as the centre of the high pressure relocates a little further south, there will be a subtle change in that the air will travel over land, the near Continent, than the cold North Sea. This will result in several days of fine sunny weather with prolonged sunshine resulting in temperatures by day rising well above average. The nights will continue to be cool under clear skies.
The strong winds are due to a squeeze between the resident high-pressure to the northwest and a depression in the western approaches. As the anticyclone edges further south over the UK winds are likely to fall lighter.
The past few days have been a headache for gardeners under the relentless strong northeasterly wind and cold nights. The soil temperature at a depth 5cm has dropped below the general rule of thumb of consistent 10C for plants to grow and seeds to germinate. The temperatures logged at 08.00 have been 10.2C, 8.3C, 8.2C, 7.7C and 7.4C respectively over the last five mornings, showing the loss of warmth in the soil. With more sunshine and a lighter wind over the next few days I anticipate that the soil will begin to warm up again.
Following on the item I included yesterday on hay fever, I read today that hay fever sufferers have it worse today than thirty years ago. The symptoms now last for up to two weeks longer than in the 1990’s a new review has found.
Climate change has “prolonged the pollen season by up to two weeks, increasing the amount of time people with hay fever are exposed to allergens”, according to the Lancet Countdown in Europe 2026 report.
Changes in the timing and intensity of birch, alder and olive pollen season were analysed in the study.
We have had no precipitation since the 17th, to wash the pollen out from the atmosphere, and with no rain in the forecast, the conditions for hay fever sufferers are not likely to improve significantly before next week at the earliest.
I will include a further section of bluebell images this week from East Woods in Marlborough, seen on a walk through the ancient woodland.