Friday 4th August
Thursday was a fine day with no precipitation and very warm conditions under the brisk southwesterly breeze that did not contain any weather fronts. The thermometer rose well above average with a maximum of 25.4C at 14.49 being a significant 6.4C above my long-term average. The overcast sky during the past night, from the cloud associated with the depression to the northwest, meant a very warm night as the thermometer hovered around 19C for much of the night only dropping as the drizzle and rain arrived at 06.10, that by 08.00 amounted to 1.6mm.
Friday arrived gloomy with a low cloud base and drizzle falling. At 07.30 a very narrow band of heavier rain arrived that briefly produced very strong winds with a maximum gust of 24mph. The precipitation continued until 08.00 when it fizzled put. The precipitation was from a couple of weather fronts crossing the country, both cold fronts, that will result in the breeze veering into the west for a couple of days and maximum temperatures dropping back to around the average for September.
By Sunday the centre of the high pressure will have relocated eastwards, that will result in the wind backing into the southeast and wafting in very warm air from the near Continent giving us a very warm and dry day.
A new series of images start today, which were taken from the top of St Peter’s Church, looking east along the very wide Marlborough High Street.
Who decides when a storm should be named?
In Europe, there are five storm naming groups created from the meteorological agencies based in a similar geographic location.
The UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands form the western storm-naming group.
In the UK, storms are named when they are likely to cause disruption or damage that could lead to an amber or red warning.
Mostly this is because of strong winds but it could also be snow or heavy rainfall.
This decision is based on both the potential impact of the weather and how likely it is to happen.
However, it is worth noting that storms named by Met Éireann or KNMI due to forecast impacts in either Ireland or the Netherlands may not necessarily cause disruption here in the UK.