Friday 14th November
Thursday was a great improvement on previous days as broken cloud donated the sky for most of the daylight hours enabling the sun to lift the temperature to a maximum of 16.0C at 12.51, being 5.7C above average that made it the warmest day since the 6th.
The thermometer edged slowly down in the evening to reach a minimum of 11.6C at 21.38 before lifting a little to reach 12.7C at 08.00.
Thin cloud was observed late afternoon on Thursday drifting across the sky that thickened in the early evening with brief light rain at 17.50 before a much longer spell of rain arrived at 18.40, not stopping until just before midnight. There were a couple of splashes in the early hours of Friday before much steadier and lengthy rain triggered the automatic rain gauge at 05.39. The rainfall for the past twenty-four hours amounted to 12.2mm. The rainfall for November now stands at 76.0mm compared to my 41-year average of 91.8mm.
Friday staggered to arrive, being dark, dull and wet with very low, thick cloud draping the Marlborough Downs and Savernake Forest, producing continuous rain. Two weather fronts will cross the UK today that will make a very wet day with the second band crossing late afternoon, probably producing a much heavier spell of rain. The area of rain is considerable, reaching from Brittany in the south to Scotland in the north.
The barometric pressure had fallen to 1000.8mb at 08.00, the lowest pressure since the 1st, thanks to the deep depression, Storm Claudia, edging closer.
There will be two more days of above average maxima before much cooler air invades from the north on Sunday that by Monday will make it feel very cool. The wind will have backed into the northeast on Sunday and further into the north on Monday.
N.B. For the first time in many months, probably since last Winter, water started to rise and flow at 14.00 in the River Kennet at Winterborne Monkton, triggering the automatic rain gauge.