The warm southerly air on Sunday lifted the thermometer to 12.2C at 14.09. This was a significant 5.1C above my 40-year average and the warmest day since 2nd January (12.6C) thanks to an air stream from North Africa. The lowest temperature for the past twenty-four hours occurred at 17.30 on Sunday, not overnight as is usual in winter, with a low of 8.9C, which was 7.6C above my 40-year average.The solar energy was the highest since 11th November in the warm sunshine and the UV peak reading of 0.9, still in the ‘Low’ category, was the highest since 17th November.
Monday struggled to come alive under thick, low cloud. A mini depression is moving up from the Bay of Biscay throwing its cloud across southern England containing a weather front that will give a mainly cloudy day but with still considerable warmth for January.
The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm has recjveetd considerably with a temperature at 08.00 of 8.6C compared to -2.9C ten day ago.