Thursday 19th March
The glorious wall to wall sunshine on Wednesday pushed the temperature to a maximum of 18.7C at 15.21, being a significant 7.9C above average. The UV level at its peak reached a value of 2.8, almost into the ‘Moderate’ level, whilst the loss of equivalent rainfall due to evaporation from ground sources and plant amounted to 2.4mm. Inevitably, the temperature dropped steadily overnight due to a clear sky resulting in a minimum of 0.8C at 06.18 early Thursday.
Thursday awoke to initially weak sunshine after sunrise, due to thin high cloud, but as soon as it rose higher it began to shine strongly. Today will be another fine and sunny day as the barometric pressure has been rising rapidly with a reading of 1027.1mb at 08.00, the highest pressure all month.
The anticyclone will dominate our weather for the next few days as it wards off any weather fronts coming in from the Atlantic. The wind will be light as the centre of the high pressure is currently over Scotland and will be close until after the weekend. By Monday the wind direction will back into a northerly quadrant that will see temperatures fall away, much closer to the March average.
You’re reading your weather app wrong! Scientists reveal what a ‘30% chance of rain’ REALLY means
Are you always getting caught in the rain without an umbrella? If so, you might be reading your weather forecast app wrong.
Are you always getting caught in the rain without an umbrella?
If so, you might be reading your weather forecast app wrong.
When many people see a ‘30% chance of rain’ on their app, they think this corresponds to the heaviness of the downpour, or the area of land that will experience it.
However, Dr Rob Thompson, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, explains why this is incorrect.
‘People sometimes misread this to mean that it will rain over 30% of the area – or that, if it does rain, it will only be a light drizzle,’ he explained to Which?.
‘Neither of those is true.
‘A 30% chance of rain means that there is a small chance – three times out of 10 – that it will rain, but seven times out of 10, it will stay dry.
‘And that 30% could still mean a heavy downpour for the full length of time covered by the forecast, or a brief five-minute shower right at the end.’