Thursday brought the penultimate dry and sunny day that saw the thermometer rise to a maximum of 18.2C early in the afternoon, between bursts of sunshine, being 0.9C above my long-term average. During the strong sunshine, between 13.13 and 13.15, the UV level rose to a value of 6 being in the ‘Very High’ category for the first time this year. With clearing skies again overnight, after the cold front had passed through, the warmth dissipated into the atmosphere under minimal cloud cover so that by 05.14 a very low temperature for May, of 1.9C, was logged being a significant 5.1C below my long-term average.
The start to a new day on Friday revealed broken light cloud cover that raised the temperature to 12.7C by 08.00.
This will be the last day under a high pressure system, which will slowly dissipate during daylight hours as Atlantic weather systems make their way towards the UK. A warm front is forecast to reach the western approaches during the evening bringing cloud that might produce a little rain overnight, quantity unsure. This will herald the arrival of unsettled weather over the weekend and into next week with winds for the first time for a month coming from the southwest rather than the recent persistent cool northeasterly breeze.
It was reported yesterday that the recent warm weather had resulted in a ‘marine heatwave’ in the seas around the UK and Ireland with some areas now 4C warmer than normal, with potential implications for marine life. The heatwave is most intense off the west coast of Ireland as well as pockets off the coast of Devon and Cornwall. The sea temperatures were the highest recorded during April and May since monitoring began 45 years ago.
Abbotsbury Swannery: While the swannery is primarily home to mute swans, black swans do arrive and stay, with occasional breeding, as evidence in my image taken in 2006. I understand that black swans are native to Australia and New Zealand.