The high pressure being firmly positioned over the UK on Monday gave us many hours of glorious sunshine, muted a little in the morning due to thin high cloud, that eventually produced a maximum of 22.9C at 16.21, being a significant 8.8C above my long-term average. The peak made it the warmest day this month also going back through the records the warmest day since 1st September when a peak of 25.5C was logged. The soil is slowly warming up and holding more warmth overnight so the minimum of 3.9C, logged at 15.55 early Tuesday was 0.2C above average.
The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm logged at 08.00, has seen an increase over the past three days with 9.3C, 12.0C and 12.6C respectively.
No mist or fog was formed overnight as the air is now much drier and overnight less cold. The humidity at 08.00 for the last four days was logged at 90.7%, 83.6%, 79.3% and 74.4% respectively. The air stream will vary between east and southeast today and continue light under the dome of high pressure.
Only five days this month has any precipitation been recorded. The total rainfall for April will be just 11.7mm, with no prospect of any rainfall over the last two days of April, being only 20% of my 41-year record or minus 45.9mm. Set against the dry month has been the loss of equivalent rainfall through evaporation from ground sources and plant life, now totalling a considerable 73mm.
The anticyclone will be dominating our weather until the end of the week when by Friday a change in the pattern of weather is likely to occur.
I continue my walk through West Woods, just outside Marlborough, enjoying the wonderful spread of bluebells under the fresh, light green leaves of the beech trees.