Although the month started and ended with mild, unsettled
SW-lies, there was a long anticyclonic period between the
11th and 24th which more than offset the less settled spells.
Circulation-wise, it was not an exceptional month, but it
was more southwesterly than usual with a marked anti-
cyclonic bias. The westerly, southerly and anticyclonic
circulation indices were all in the top 33%.

Mean pressure charts are available at:
Charts: http://www.climate-uk.com/monpre/0712.htm
The Monthly Review will shortly be uploaded to:
http://www.climate-uk.com/monthly/0712.htm
Graphs: http://www.climate-uk.com/graphs/0712.htm and
http://www.climate-uk.com/graphs/200712.htm
Not The Long Range Forecast should be available on 4th Jan on:
http://www.climate-uk.com/page4.html

The mean sea-level chart is dominated by a broad SW-ly flow
extending across the Atlantic and northern Europe from about
longitude 40degW and deep into the Russian Arctic. The Icelandic
low is much deeper than usual at 987mbar in the Denmark Strait,
and there is a second centre of 995mbar near Novaya Zemlya.
High pressure extends from south of the Azores across Spain and
France to Ukraine and beyond, with centres of 1026mbar over
western Spain and southwestern France, but there is a cut-off low
in the central Mediterranean.

The sea-level pressure anomaly field has below-normal pressure
over much of the northern Atlantic, Iceland, Greenland, and the
Norwegian/Russian Arctic. Pressure is above normal over
practically the whole of Europe, and also over New England and
the Canadian Maritimes.

The main anomaly centres we
- 13mbar over SE Greenland
+ 8mbar over Belarus
+ 7mbar over western France
+ 6mbar over New England

Over the British Isles pressure anomaly ranged from +1mbar
in the Western Isles to +6mbar in Kent and Sussex; the anomalous
flow over the British Isles is SSW-ly.

CET (after Manley) 4.93°C (-0.2 degC wrt 1971-2000)
CET (after Hadley) 4.9 or 5.0°C (-0.1 or -0.2 degC)
E&W Rain (provisional): 83.0mm ( 82% of 1971-2000 mean)
E&W Sunshine (prov): 56.8 hr (119% of 1971-2000 mean)

CScotT: 4.5°C ( 0.0 degC)
ScotRain: 84mm ( 74%)
ScotSun: 49hr (152%)

NIT: 6.6°C (+0.4 degC)
NI Rain: 78mm ( 77%)
NI Sun: 46hr (104%)

Rainfall totals ranged from 370mm at Capel Curig (Snowdonia)
to 21.6mm at Shoeburyness (Essex)

Percentages ranged from 167 at Shap (Cumberland) to
37 at Leuchars (Kingdom of Fife)

Sunshine totals ranged from 89.0h at East Malling (Kent) -
presumed KZ sensor - to 25.5h at Lerwick (KZ sensor).

Percentages ranged from 239 at Kirkwall (Orkney)
to 68 at Watnall (Notts)

(c) Philip Eden

In article ,
Philip Eden writes:
Sunshine totals ranged from 89.0h at East Malling (Kent) -
presumed KZ sensor - to 25.5h at Lerwick (KZ sensor).

Percentages ranged from 239 at Kirkwall (Orkney)
to 68 at Watnall (Notts)

A low sunshine total at Lerwick and a very high percentage at Kirkwall
seems like an unlikely combination. Could one figure or the other be in
error?
--
John Hall
"Honest criticism is hard to take,
particularly from a relative, a friend,
an acquaintance, or a stranger." Franklin P Jones

"John Hall" wrote:
Philip Eden writes:

Sunshine totals ranged from 89.0h at East Malling (Kent) -
presumed KZ sensor - to 25.5h at Lerwick (KZ sensor).

Percentages ranged from 239 at Kirkwall (Orkney)
to 68 at Watnall (Notts)

A low sunshine total at Lerwick and a very high percentage at Kirkwall
seems like an unlikely combination. Could one figure or the other be in
error?
--
No, John ... the Lerwick figure, although the smallest in the country, was
still 175% of the local average! They don't get much sunshine that far
north in December ...

Philip

In uk.sci.weather on Tue, 1 Jan 2008, Philip Eden
wrote :
"John Hall" wrote:
Philip Eden writes:

Sunshine totals ranged from 89.0h at East Malling (Kent) -
presumed KZ sensor - to 25.5h at Lerwick (KZ sensor).

Percentages ranged from 239 at Kirkwall (Orkney)
to 68 at Watnall (Notts)

A low sunshine total at Lerwick and a very high percentage at Kirkwall
seems like an unlikely combination. Could one figure or the other be in
error?
--
No, John ... the Lerwick figure, although the smallest in the country, was
still 175% of the local average! They don't get much sunshine that far
north in December ...

Plugging their latitude into my sunrise/sunset calculator, they only get
5h45m of daylight in midwinter!
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham (change 'invalid83261' to 'blueyonder' to email me)

02/01/2008 09:21:58
Paul Hyett wrote in message


In uk.sci.weather on Tue, 1 Jan 2008, Philip Eden
wrote :
"John Hall" wrote:
Philip Eden writes:

Sunshine totals ranged from 89.0h at East Malling (Kent) -
presumed KZ sensor - to 25.5h at Lerwick (KZ sensor).

Percentages ranged from 239 at Kirkwall (Orkney)
to 68 at Watnall (Notts)

A low sunshine total at Lerwick and a very high percentage at
Kirkwall
seems like an unlikely combination. Could one figure or the
other be in
error?
--
No, John ... the Lerwick figure, although the smallest in the
country, was
still 175% of the local average! They don't get much sunshine that
far
north in December ...

Plugging their latitude into my sunrise/sunset calculator, they
only get
5h45m of daylight in midwinter!
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham (change 'invalid83261' to 'blueyonder' to
email me)
December 2007 sunshine total for Fair Isle is a staggering 43.1 hours.
246.2% based on the 1976-2001 average of just 17.5 hours.
A couple of extra 'sunny' days can make an enourmous % difference. At
this lattitude a relatively clear sky can yield almost no recirdable
sunshine if the small amount of cloud present sits along the southern
horizon - the worse culprit being frontal cloud with CBs in an
unstable NW'ly following a close second.
Interesting pressure range on Fair Isle December 2007. 970.1hPa 0130z
7th December to 1041.7hPa between 2315-2355z on the 17th.
Dave, Fair Isle

In article ,
Philip Eden writes:
"John Hall" wrote:
Philip Eden writes:

Sunshine totals ranged from 89.0h at East Malling (Kent) -
presumed KZ sensor - to 25.5h at Lerwick (KZ sensor).

Percentages ranged from 239 at Kirkwall (Orkney)
to 68 at Watnall (Notts)

A low sunshine total at Lerwick and a very high percentage at Kirkwall
seems like an unlikely combination. Could one figure or the other be in
error?
--
No, John ... the Lerwick figure, although the smallest in the country, was
still 175% of the local average! They don't get much sunshine that far
north in December ...

Thanks. I knew that the mean would be low, but I hadn't expected it to
be quite _that_ low.
--
John Hall
"Honest criticism is hard to take,
particularly from a relative, a friend,
an acquaintance, or a stranger." Franklin P Jones

Philip Eden wrote:

Mean pressure charts are available at:
Charts: http://www.climate-uk.com/monpre/0712.htm
The Monthly Review will shortly be uploaded to:
http://www.climate-uk.com/monthly/0712.htm
Graphs: http://www.climate-uk.com/graphs/0712.htm and
http://www.climate-uk.com/graphs/200712.htm
Not The Long Range Forecast should be available on 4th Jan on:
http://www.climate-uk.com/page4.html


Once again, many thanks for the wealth of information you post on here
Philip.

I was also noting your 'Not the long range Forcast' that you issued on
13 th December 2007 predicting another SE erly cooler spell for the
beginning of January. Careful Philip the Daily Express may try to poach
you from the Torygraph :-)
--
Keith (Southend)
http://www.southendweather.net
e-mail: kreh at southendweather dot net