Monday 20th October
The rain set in on Sunday at 09.45 as I was walking into town that, with short breaks between, lasted well into the evening. There was a break until around 04.00 early Monday, when a light shower triggered the automatic rain gauge and then restarted with a vengeance just after 06.00 that amounted to 15.2mm for the past twenty-four hours. The milder air on a southeasterly track produced a maximum of 14.4C at 14.14 being 0.5C below average whilst the past night has been very mild with a low of 11.3C at 01.17, which was 3.9C above average.
Monday struggled to wake up under very low, thick cloud. The depression has been slowly edging towards the UK over the past twenty-four hours and at 08.00 was centred over Cornwall and will continue a slow traverse eastward across the UK. The rain radar shows a rash of numerous heavy showers drifting in from the west that are likely to continue for much of the day.
The barometric pressure on Sunday was falling rapidly at the significant rate of 1mb an hour that has resulted in a very low pressure reading of 989.4mb at 08.00 on Monday, and will fall a little further as the centre arrives over our area later today. This is the lowest barometric pressure since 27th January. The situation is compounded by a secondary low pressure area that has formed to the northwest of Scotland, which is intensifying the cloud and rain. There are two weather fronts projected to cross the UK today also with a trough ahead of them that will add to the rainfall and brisk, gusty wind.
My average October rainfall, using my standard Met Office 5″ rain gauge over the past 41 years, stands at 91.2mm whilst to-date that has measured a total of 32.5mm, well below average, but that will change significantly during this week thanks to the unsettled weather.
Savernake Forest. The royal forest established in the 12th century covered an area of some 150 square miles and was a mixture of woodland, copses, common land and rough pasture. In Tudor times Henry VIII visited the forest where he was very keen on deer-hunting. Another image of the 4 mile Grand Avenue is attached in its autumn glory.