Tuesday 30th June
The cooler westerly breeze, combined with variable cloud, meant a cooler day on Monday, in fact, with a maximum of 21.2C, which was only 0.4C above average, it was the coolest day since the 12th June. The overnight minimum of 13.9C, logged at 05.01 early Tuesday just after sunrise in Marlborough at 04.54, was 3.7C above average.
Tuesday began with variable cloud that will increase during the day as the forecast surface charts indicate a warm front will cross the country, probably around midday. A low pressure system centred over Northern Ireland is responsible for the weather front.
The next few days will see the Azores high push a minor ridge across the country tomorrow and before low pressure tries to reassert itself on Thursday with a cold front crossing in the morning. However, both the Tuesday and Thursday weather fronts are not expected to produce any precipitation.
The forecast pressure chart for Saturday indicates that the Azores high will begin to build and its centre to edge closer to the UK, just off the Brest peninsula. Meteorologists have considerable confidence that this anticyclone will dominant our weather throughout next week that will see temperatures rise well above average for early July and likely produce another heatwave. Meteorological opinions are mixed at the moment as to whether maximum temperatures next week might surpass the extremes of last week. Lets hope not!
This evening the full moon will rise low above the horizon, as it did last night, marking the appearance of the Strawberry Moon, the first full moon of summer. The name comes from Native American tribes, who used this full moon to mark the wild strawberry harvest.