Wednesday 6th May
In between the broken clouds on Tuesday, the bursts of sunshine in the morning, greater than expected, lifted the temperature to a peak of 16.3C at 14.02, however, that was 1.0C below the early May average. The strong sunshine around midday meant another burst of ‘High’ UV light with a value of 5.4, the highest since last August whilst at the same time the peak solar radiation was logged at 1041W/m2, the highest since 10th September last year. The cool airstream meant another cool night with the temperature dropping to a minimum of 6.9C at 06.39 early Wednesday, which was also below average, just, at -0.1C.
There was brightness at the start of the new day on Wednesday with variable sunshine. The wind had veered into the northeast overnight, which will mean a likely mainly overcast day ahead as the airstream drags in cloud from its travels over the North Sea, also very cool as the temperature of that sea surface is around 10C at the moment. At 08.00 there was a modest wind chill when the radiation shielded thermometer read 7.8C and outside it felt more 7.5C.
I notice that the weather apps for the Met Office do not mention any precipitation over the weekend and into next week whilst the BBC weather apps, using the Met Office data since 2025, mention light rain over the weekend and up to Tuesday. I wonder which will be the most accurate?
We have a few cool days ahead with the wind continuing from an easterly quadrant. This will be due to a run of air between the high pressure to the west, rotating clockwise and low pressure over the near continent rotating anticlockwise, as they do. The amount of sunshine is likely to be variable between the broken cloud but hopefully, the temperatures will edge upwards to be closer to the May average.
It is a difficult time for gardeners with below average temperatures and little rain in the forecast over the next few days. The moisture from the recent light showers has already evaporated. The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm has fallen back with a reading of just 11.6C at 08.00, thus not a lot of warmth in the ground to encourage growth of recently planted items whilst all the while subjected to a cool, brisk air stream, if not protected.