Monday gave us a cloudy morning that, combined with the brisk easterly breeze, restricted the increase in temperature. However, around 12.30 the sun began to break through that saw the temperature rise much more rapidly reaching a peak of 21.8C at 14.16 before cloud began to drift back again. This maximum was 0.3C below my long-term average although in the strong sunshine after midday a peak UV of 6.2 was logged, which was at the top end of ‘High’. The past two nights have been similar with variable cloud originating from the breeze travelling over the North Sea that limited the loss of warmth into the atmosphere, as a result the minimum of 15.1C, logged at 06.28 early Tuesday, was 3.9C above average.
Thanks to the cloud cover, there were minimal bursts of weak sunshine on Tuesday first thing as it struggled through the variable cloud cover. As a result the temperature had only risen to 15.6C by 08.00, not least due to the wind being brisk and having backed into the northeast. The cloudier conditions will limit sunshine today but hopefully the cloud will burn back after midday to lift the temperature, after a cool start.
The high pressure has changed little in its position over the last twenty-four hours although the ridge that extends over the UK from its centre near Iceland has eased with a fall of 5mb since yesterday. However, it is still strong enough to deter any weather fronts associated with the low pressure system in the eastern Atlantic and a more disturbed area over France. This area to the south of the UK brought scattered showers over Devon and Cornwall yesterday that last night reached eastwards into Somerset. A much more intense area of heavy rain approached south Devon just after 08.00 this morning.
At the moment there is little prospect of rain this week, however, forecasters are keeping an eye out for Tropical Storm Erin that deepened rapidly yesterday in mid-Atlantic and if caught up in the Jet Stream that could steer it towards the UK and might have a major effect on our weather next week. Storm Erin is now classified as Hurricane Erin with maximum sustained speeds pf 120mph close to the Caribbean.