Winds set to strengthen through Friday in Aylesbury Vale

But overall, the Vale's weather is expected to be a little less windy than average during September
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You may have noticed a lack of or a significant reduction in windy periods over the past months, and this appears to be true.

Wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure which in turn are created by temperature differences.

When air is cooling, it becomes denser than the surrounding air and therefore descends. Areas of descending air are known as anticyclones, which are associated with relatively high pressure and often lead to settled conditions with light winds.

Our regular weather forecast for Aylesbury ValeOur regular weather forecast for Aylesbury Vale
Our regular weather forecast for Aylesbury Vale

The opposite of an anticyclone is the cyclone or a depression, which is an area of ascending air and is usually associated with relatively low pressure and unsettled conditions.

In the northern hemisphere, winds in an anticyclone rotate clockwise around its centre, whilst a low-pressure system has its winds rotating in an anti-clockwise flow. The greater the pressure difference between an area of high pressure and an area of low pressure the stronger the winds will be.

Over the summer period we have seen mean surface pressure averaging around or a little above normal each month, leading to mostly stable conditions with generally low winds, and the first fortnight of September was not an exception. Not something you want to hear if you rely on mobile wind turbines to generate your electricity in your cottage or camper van.

Light winds also persisted through much of this week, but winds will strengthen through Friday as a cold front pushes west to east across our area bringing outbreaks of rain. There might be a few relatively breezy days over the next fortnight, however a generally slack pattern is expected and the month as a whole is expected to end up with winds a little below average.

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