Saturday 20th December
Friday was a splendid day with much sunshine that once again, under a flow of warm air from the southwest, meant another above average maximum that that rose to 10.2C at 12.45. There was some variable cloud in the afternoon but it remained dry. The low of 2.2C, which was 0.3C above average, was logged in the very early hours of Saturday, at 02.54, since when there has been a slight rise to reach 5.0C at 08.00.
After first light on Saturday it was revealed that the sky was clear, a little residual cloud could be seen floating around the eastern horizon. The high pressure is slowly slipping away but should keep the weather fronts at bay during daylight hours today but cloud will increase during the early evening with the possibility of light rain or drizzle towards midnight.
The recent large area of high pressure is slowly receding and will relocate towards Scandinavia from eastern Europe. This change in position will see the wind back into the southeast on Saturday, a drier and cooler air flow. Later on Sunday the wind will back further, into the east, and by Christmas Eve, it is likely to arrive from the northeast, a very much colder flow of air from around southern Scandinavia, which will push the unsettled, warm and moist air away to the west.
This distinct change in the weather pattern is likely to herald maxima and minima below average by Wednesday, which will be in stark contrast to the previous three warm weeks of December. However, over the Christmas period under the high pressure, the air will be drier thus much less possibility of precipitation, either wet or white!