The southeasterly wind on Monday lifted the thermometer to fractionally above average, the first after ten consecutive days with below maxima. The peak of 14.6C at 13.48 was reached just before the sunshine of 4.1 hours was reduced as the advance cloud from Storm Barbara began to increase.
Although the air from the Continent was mild, it was brisk with a maximum gust of 24mph, the strongest gust since the 2nd (35mph).
There were a couple of showers overnight, the longest and heaviest just after 01.00, that totalled 2.3mm bringing the monthly total to 127.4mm the the 36-year average is 85.6m. The southeasterly wind veered into the south in the early hours of Tuesday, when a minimum of 11.3C was recorded at 02.30. The thermometer then began to creep a little higher to reach 11.6C at 08.00, a very mild night being 4.7C above average. It was the mildest night since 17th September.
Just before 08.00 on Tuesday the rain ceased and the cloud began to lift just a little as Storm Barbara, with its centre over southern Ireland, eased away to the north. The depression gave us a minimum pressure of 999.3mb at 08.00, the lowest since the 4th (980.5mb).
