Tuesday brought 9.8 hours of strong sunshine with the UV level at the top end of’High’. The thermometer climbed steadily throughout the day to reach a maximum of 34.1C at 16.27. This was the hottest day since the record maximum of 34.9C was recorded on 19th July 2006. The station opened in 1984.
The wind was very light throughout the day with a maxim movement of just 11mph. The wind direction was variable initially coming from the north east but veering into the east and briefly into the south late afternoon. During the evening a dramatic storm cloud was observed to the north east as a major storm developed over Oxford.
There was minimal loss of heat from the ground through radiation during the last night so not surprisingly it was very warm. The minimum of 18.2C at 06.27 on Wednesday morning was 6.6C above the 36-year average and was the hottest night since the same temperature was recorded on 24th July 2019. So not a ‘Tropical Night’ as has been mentioned in the weather forecasts for some areas of the country but a tropical night set the record for this station on 20th July 2016 when a minimum of 20.4C was recorded.
Wednesday saw strong sunshine shortly after dawn as the sun cleared cloud on the eastern horizon. The heat continues to be absorbed by the very dry ground with the temperature of the soil at a depth of 5cm at 08.00 was 24.3C.
Update on Wednesday at 19.30: maximum exactly as on Tuesday with a peak of 34.1C that occurred a little later in the day at 17.15 before cloud built up from an approaching storm but no rainfall as yet again storm eased around the area.
