Warmest day of the year so far expected
At the end of last week, I highlighted that spring-like warmth was likely across some parts of the UK this week.
This warmth is being brought by south westerly winds that are bathing the UK in warm air travelling all the way from the Azores.
Whilst it’s bringing quite a bit of cloud, eastern areas are favoured for cloud breaks, giving some occasional sunshine.
Where cloud breaks develop on Thursday, temperatures in eastern parts of Scotland and England are expected to reach the mid-teens, with the warmest day of the year so far expected.
Having had a closer look at the latest weather forecast information, it looks like Flintshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, south Lincolnshire and Aberdeenshire are the counties most likely to experience the highest temperatures – widely up to 15-16C.
A few places could even be a touch warmer. I think there’s a good chance somewhere in Norfolk will reach 17C on Thursday – probably Marham or Norwich.
The warmest day of the year so far was yesterday, with Kinloss and Fyvie Castle reaching 14.2C – a precursor to tomorrow’s spring-like warmth.
Even for the rest of the UK, where it’s expected to remain largely cloudy, temperatures will rise to 11-14C. This is well above the UK February maximum temperature average of 6-9C.
It’ll turn a little bit cooler during Friday and Saturday as a cold front sinks southwards across the UK. However, there’ll be another surge of warm air early next week which will once again push temperatures for some places into the mid-teens.
Changing the topic slightly, there’s been interesting findings of some research published in the New York Times in recent days that once again underlines how weather in different parts of the world are inter-linked – even over very long distances.
Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of California, San Diego have discovered a link that suggests dust from Asia can increase rainfall in California.
Dust in Asia can get swept across the Pacific Ocean towards the west coast of the USA by the jet stream and enhance the number of cloud condensation nuclei.
Cloud condensation nuclei are essential for the development of clouds and act as seeds for water vapour to condense onto to form cloud droplets.
The research compared two storms that affected California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, one of which contained a notable amount of dust and one which didn’t.
Results showed that the storm containing Asian dust produced 40% more rainfall than the storm without.
Briefly returning to our spring-like warmth, if you manage to take any good pictures tomorrow, feel free to share them with me. The easiest way is via Twitter – @liamdutton