Thankfully, it was a fairly quiet week on the weather front. There were no high winds once Storm Darragh had blown itself out and very little rain. The Tilshead aquifer’s filling rate has slowed considerably but hasn’t yet stopped. The river level began to drop in the middle part of the week but then began to rise again once we had a little overnight rain. This shows just how saturated the ground is and how little rain it will take to have a large effect.
Water levels in the aquifer now stand at 96.47 metres AOD; that’s 1.5 metres higher than the 11-year average winter maximum, but 1.5 metres below the level we saw on the same day last year. The groundwater Flood Alert for the Salisbury Plain area remains in force and is not set for review until Tuesday.
You can expect a grey, drizzly day today and overnight. More persistent rain will move in on Tuesday, and by Friday, this will become squally. Christmas week into the New Year is likely to be changeable with a few showers. The north of England is likely to see a bit of snow on higher ground; sadly, it seems unlikely we will get any. Early January is set to see a continuation of the north-south divide with drier and less windy weather here.