The first signs of even warmer air from Iberia arrived on Tuesday with the temperature during daylight hours around 10 – 11C for much of the day and early evening. During the early hours of Wednesday the thermometer rose a little higher with a maximum of 13.3C at 08.00 Wednesday morning.
The minimum during the past twenty-four hours was 6.9C at 08.00 on Tuesday and the warmest, not during daylight hours, but at 08.00 on Wednesday, which was 5.6C above the average maximum. We enjoyed 4.8 hours of sunshine on Tuesday with the UV level rising to 2.3, not reached since 11th October and at the top end of ‘Low’.
The southerly wind was very brisk on Tuesday with a maximum gust of 31mph at 13.21
With a temperature of 13.3C at 08.00 on Wednesday it was the warmest start to a day since 18th October. There has been a consequent rise in the ground temperature at a depth of 5cm, currently reading 9.6C, not seen since 23rd December. The southerly air stream is now arriving from far south of the UK originating in North Africa and then across Iberia.
The sun began to shine quite strongly an hour after sunrise on Wednesday that saw the thermometer rise further with a temperature of 14.6C at 09.00. This temperature is around the April average maximum, not usual in February!
