Saturday gave us another sunny day with the welcome return of strong sunshine amounting to 9.44 hours. There was a light breeze from the north, which made it feel a little chilly out of the sun, but nevertheless the thermometer peaked at 15.8C, which is 2C above the average for April. Overnight the thermometer fell rapidly to a low of 0.2C at 06.16 this morning before glorious sunshine started to raise the temperature to 3.8C at 08.00. There was a sharp ground frost but we just escaped an air frost, which gardeners at this time of the year fear with so much blossom on the fruit trees and tender plants ready for planting out. However, just before 07.30 a fog bank slowly rolled in from the east temporarily obscuring the sun but by 08.00 it had burnt its way through the mist.
Rainfall this month amounts to just 1mm when the 33-year average is 59.7mm, with little rain on the forecast. Winter had a deficit of 99m and March 9mm so there is a large deficit of precipitation over the last five months. This is compounded by the considerable evaporation from ground sources and plant life this month amounting to 53mm.
The weather station of Marlborough, Wiltshire
