Tuesday 7th July
After a misty and cloudy start to Monday the persistent strong sunshine eventually pushed the temperature above the heatwave threshold of 27C that was reached by 15.12. The thermometer then slowly continued to rise, eventually peaking at 29.7C, logged at 16.52, being 6.8C above average. This was the hottest day since the 26th June (33.3C). Thicker cloud began to drift across from the northwest after 17.00 that then began to thin before a short lived clearance when more cloud arrived just after 04.30, hence the minimum of 14.3C was logged at 05.15, that stopped any further drop in temperature, which also coincided with sunrise in Marlborough at 04.59. The low was 2.3C above average.
We have now endured 24 consecutive days when the maximum was above average with many more to come! There have been 23 recent nights since 14th June that were also above average, BUT not quite consecutive, as a low of 6.9C was logged early last Friday.
Tuesday revealed a cloudy start to the new day with thin, high, fair weather cloud that, as mentioned above, arrived early in the morning. I noticed that around 07.45 the sun was beginning to slowly gain in strength to thin the cloud but not strong, although the temperature at 08.00 had eased upwards to reach 17.8C.
The centre of the Azores high has eased away a little to the southwest, hence the fall of 13mb since the 3rd, but it os still in command. Over the next few days it will continue to dominate our weather even though it slowly relocates towards the northwest of the UK, which will see the breeze veer into a northerly quadrant later today and for Wednesday before to backs again, when it is then forecast to arrive from the east by Friday. But be not fooled, as although we expect a cooler air stream from those two directions, in fact the heat will continue to build with a peak probably on Friday.
The long range forecast indicates that the heatwave conditions are likely to continue until around the 17th.
There is a ‘cold blob’ in the North Atlantic that is causing much concern amongst scientists. A giant cold patch has formed south of Greenland, which is the only place in the world to have cooled significantly since the 19th century. In fact, it has dropped nearly 1C since 1900. The drop in temperature first started to raise alarm bells about a decade ago, due to its swiftness and severity.
This cold blob itself could have a significant impact on our climate and weather systems, but scientists are worried that it might potentially suggest that something far more worrying is changing in our oceans. It could suggest that the cold blob is cold mainly because more of the water’s heat is passing from the ocean’s surface into the atmosphere. It might all be connected to the Atlantic Meridional Circulation (AMOC), a major system of ocean currents that moves water around the world – and it is this notion that is causing major concern – more tomorrow!