The barometric pressure began to rise after 09.00 on Saturday as it competed against the depression over northern France that had forced its cloud and murk across the UK. The pressure rose continuously over the following twenty-four hour period.
Saturday was a dreadfully dull, cold day with continuous thick cloud cover that limited any rise in temperature to a maximum of 3.6C at 16.49, which was a significant 4.3C below the long-term average. The cloud became even thicker in the early evening as the depression over France produced drizzle and light rain that amounted to 0.7mm just after 20.00. The cloud was so dense that the there was virtually no solar activity during daylight hours with a reading of just 44W/m2, the lowest maximum since 1st February 2024.
During the late evening the temperature began to fall again at 20.44, which was due to a small area of reduced cloud and thinning that saw the thermometer drop to a minimum of -0.3C logged at 06.01 early on Sunday. This low was 2.2C below average. The drop in temperature meant moisture condensed forming fog in the early hours that after first light had reduced visibility to 300m.
Sunday after first light revealed the foggy conditions with little air movement. The barometric pressure read 1026.9mb at 08.00 a rise of 10mb since Saturday and rising rapidly.
The forecast shows the anticyclone continuing to build across the UK, which will see the breeze continue from a northeasterly direction for the next few days with depressed temperatures by day and night. The maxima for the last six days has been 10.7, 9.9, 8.9, 6.9, 3.6 and 3.6C respectively. There is the hope that the next few days will be a little less cold but still well below average for early February.