Wednesday 7th January
There was a very cold start to the new day on Tuesday being -3.9C at 08.00, with two brief showers of light snow between 08.00 and 08.30. However, the sunshine that arrived after 09.00, combined with a significant change in wind direction from north to southwest, resulted in the temperature slowly rising to a high of 5.0C by 13.10, which melted the recent snow and eased the frozen surfaces. The following hours saw the temperature drop a fraction to 3.1C at 17.00 before easing upwards again to 4.4C at midnight, thanks to cloud cover.
Rain began to fall at 19.30, light at first from fragmented cloud associated with a weather front, and heavier just before midnight. The total precipitation from the earlier snow and later rain totalled 6.2mm of equivalent rainfall.
As the cloud associated with the two weather fronts eased away eastwards the thermometer began to fall again reaching a low of 1.3C at 08.00 on Wednesday.
Wednesday arrived with clear skies, however the falling temperature combined with very cold ground, meant surfaces were very slippery. Today will be a quiet day with welcome sunshine and the thermometer climbing slowly again to around 5C, still 2C below average.
The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm has been frozen to quiet a depth over the last four consecutive days with -0.6C, -2.1C, -1.8C and -2.3C, respectively. However, after the short-lived rise in temperature yesterday and a frost free night under the modest rainfall, this morning the temperature at a depth of 5cm had risen to 0.3C.
Tonight will break the recent trend of frosts forming overnight as cloud and possible light drizzle will mean the temperature will hold a few degrees above freezing.
A depression will approach the UK from the Atlantic later on Thursday and deepen significantly, heading along southern parts of England, likely close to the Channel. This intense weather system was named Storm Goretti yesterday by Meteo France, as the they are likely to endure the highest winds and heavy rain.This depression will produce the multi-hazardous conditions mentioned yesterday. There is now more certainty in its position. We are likely to see heavy rain arrive during the afternoon on Thursday with the wind beginning to rise to over 30mph, however, around midnight, as the low pressure system eases eastwards, the wind will back into the northwest and strengthen again, which could result in sleet or snow falling as the colder air returns. First light on Friday could reveal interesting weather had arrived during the hours of darkness, very wet or white. A Yellow warning of snow has been issued by the Met Office for 18.00 Thursday to 12.00 Friday, we are at the southern edge of the indicated area. What we receive will depend on the exact position of the depression!