Thursday gave us almost 10 hours of strong sunshine that lasted from when the sun got up over the horizon to late afternoon when the high cloud dimmed the intensity of the sun. It was the sunniest day since August 28th last year.
The thermometer slowly rose to its highest at 15.41 with a peak temperature of 11.1C, although this was still 3C below the 34-year April average.
After 10 successive wet days it was a treat to have a dry day with little wind, which made it a very pleasant Spring day.
Overnight the thin cloud allowed the thermometer to gradually fall away to a minimum of 3.7C (average for April) just before dawn that arrived with thin cloud allowing weak sunshine after 08.00.
Friday update at 14.00: current temperature of 13.8C makes this the warmest day since 1st November. Wind gusting to 28mph is taking the edge off the temperature with wind chill making it feel more like 12.1C.