UK weather: 'Anticyclonic gloom' blamed as no sunshine recorded so far this month in many parts of country

Many parts of the UK have recorded no sunshine at all this month.

"Anticyclonic gloom" has been blamed for the dreary conditions of fog, drizzle and low cloud.

One of the worst affected areas has been the village of Odiham, Hampshire, which has recorded just 12 minutes of sunshine in the past 11 days.

And it's been grey for passengers flying in and out of Heathrow Airport, with less than two hours of sunshine there.

Meanwhile, many weather stations across England and east Wales have seen no sunshine at all in the first eight days of November.

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The Met Office said people living in the south of England had experienced an average of one hour of sunshine since the month started.

Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said "anticyclonic gloom" was when "high pressure traps a layer of moisture near to the Earth's surface and that brings a prolonged period of dull and cloudy weather, but with pockets of mist and fog as well".

Mr Dixon said current conditions were "unusual but not unheard of".

It has meant the UK has experienced just 5% of its average sunshine for a typical November so far.

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In contrast to much of England, Scotland and the far north of England have experienced more warming rays of light.

The village of Kinloss in Scotland recorded 20.7 hours of sunshine between 1 and 7 November.

It comes after southeast England and western Scotland experienced low-average sunshine in October too, along with much of England and Wales in September.

While the gloom is set to continue for most over the next few days, a frontal system moving south on Sunday will start to clear the cloud and bring plenty of sunshine for Monday.

However, cloud amounts will increase again by Wednesday, with a greater chance of some rain, especially in the north.

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