Author: Eric Gilbert

The steady rain lasted throughout the daylight hours on Monday and into the evening, amounting to another 43.4mm of precipitation. That was the second wettest day I have recorded since the station was set up 1984 with the record held on the 17th September with 49.7mm. The additional precipitation took the September rainfall total to 160.8mm, which is 255% of my 40 -year average or plus 97.8mm.

Thanks to the persistent rain from the thick, low cloud the thermometer all day never rose above the temperature at 08.00, which was 14.7C, being 4.4C below my 40-year average. There was a drop of just 2.4C in the early hours with a minimum of 12.3C at 08.00 on Tuesday.

The air stream changed direction after 19.00 on Monday and slowly veered from the southwest to the west-northwest as the very slow moving depression began, at last, to relocate onto the North Sea, so that by midnight to the northwest.

The start to Tuesday revealed that the rain had actually stopped with the cloud cover still total, but thinner. The breeze today will be lighter and we will see the wind back from the northwest into the west and probably west-southwest late on the day. The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 1003.8mm having started to rise from its lowest pressure all month, which was 1002.5mb in the early hours.

Sunday was best forgotten as regards weather as it was dark all day with much rain. The light easterly air stream combined with the cloud meant a very cool day when the thermometer struggled to reach a maximum of 17.4C late in the afternoon at 16.46 when the cloud thinned giving a little brightness. This peak was 1.7C below my 40-year average and the coolest day since the 13th, which was even cooler at 13.8C.

The diurnal range of temperatures was minimal at just 3.0C, the difference between day and night extremes. The minimum of 14.4C was logged at 06.25 on Monday, which was a significant 5.7C above my 40-year average, so a very mild night.

The rainfall for the past twenty-four hours amounted to 37.9mm making it the wettest day since 17th September 2023 when 49.7mm was logged. The total rainfall for September at 08.00 was 117.4mm. This total was 186% of my 40-year average or plus 54.4mm.

Monday again struggled to arrive being very dark with very low cloud and continuous rain with little air movement. The humidity read 100% at 08.00, not a common occurrence other than on very foggy days, as the air is saturated after the wet day on Sunday and rain continuing to fall.

The depression has moved very little over the past twenty-four hours with a large area of rain centred over southern England and slowly rotating anticlockwise that will produce steady rain during daylight hours and add substantially to the monthly rainfall total.

After a very wet start to Saturday the rain eased mid-morning until early Sunday at 05.15 when another shower arrived, the daily total being 3.1mm. The air stream was still mild by day and night that saw the thermometer rise to 19.3C at 13.06 on Saturday being just 0.2C above average whereas the cloud overnight meant again a very mild night with a low of 12.0C at 01.35 early Sunday, ahead of the next batch of cloud and rain. This minimum was 3.3C above my average.

Sunday slowly dawned under leaden skies with the rain having stopped just after 07.00. The temperature had recovered to 14.9C by 08.00.

The centre of the depression is currently over Cornwall. It will continue to very slowly rotate over the UK, the current rainfall radar showing large areas of rain to the north and east with more possible here around mid-day. Later today, as the depression moves slowly northeastwards the wind will veer into the southeast later today and tomorrow come from the southwest. That signifies a significant change after seven days with a northeasterly, rather thanthunderstorms bubbling up a more generally disturbed pattern with showers coming in off the Atlantic.

With limited sunshine and more cloudy conditions on Friday, with rain at 13.20, the maximum of 18.6C at 16.09 was 0.5C below my 40-year average. We have had another mild night thanks to the thick cloud cover acting as a duvet minimising loss of warmth into the atmosphere that gave a minimum of 14.2C at 01.04 being 5.5C above my average.

A thunderstorm arrived at 05.15 early Saturday with frequent flashes of lighting and thunder from 05.16 with the rain stopping just before 07.30. The rainfall from the combined storms amounted to 17.4mm that took the September rainfall total to 76.4mm being 121% of my 40-year average or plus 13.4mm.

The depression over the Continent has seen the barometric pressure drop another 4mb with a reading of 1018.1mb at 08.00.

The maximum of 22.3C on Thursday at 15.50 made it the second warmest day this month after 25.5C on the 1st. The peak was 3.2C above my 40-year average. The wind persisted from the northeast all day and night and brisk with a maximum gust of 21mph. It was another very mild night, thanks to the thick cloud that once again drifted across from the east, with a minimum of 13.7C at 01.26 that marked the arrival of the cloud and was 5.0C above my long-term average.

Friday’s start was a repeat of previous days with the new day opening under total cloud cover and the wind persisting from the northeast.

The equivalent loss of rainfall due to evaporation from ground sources and plant life now stands at a total of 31.4mm for September against the rainfall total of 59.0mm.

The barometric pressure continues to ebb away with a reading of 10224mb at 08.00, as the recent high pressure eases away and we come under the influence of a depression to the south. At 08.15 there was no indication of precipitation on the rain radar but thunderstorms are forecast to break out after midday, that can quickly bubble up and be severe.