Wednesday morning was another cool start to the day, once again under the influence of the Arctic air. However, shortly after midday the wind very slowly and hesitantly backed into the west, a less cool direction, also the late afternoon sunshine produced a pleasant interlude, especially as the wind also became light. The maximum of just 16.7C was logged at 16.59, just before thicker cloud drifted across from the west, this peak was 3.9C below my 40-year average.
The sky cleared overnight so a cool night followed with the thermometer sinking to a low of 3.8C at 04.49, just before sunrise. This minimum was a significant 6.8C below the average and the second coldest night this month.
The depression to the west has deepened in the past twenty-four hours and begun closing in on the UK, associated with it is a wide band of rain, at 08.00 the rain radar showed the rain crossing into Cornwall. The projection is that rain will arrive over southern England shortly after midday and could be heavy.
We have had nine consecutive nights with the minima well below average. However, the significant change in our weather will bring much warmer nights thanks to increased cloud cover and a change in the wind direction to come for the south today, not seen for two weeks.