Anticyclonic gloom

While high pressure areas are often associated with dry and sunny weather, this is not always the case. The descending air within high pressure zones dries and warms out. However this lid of warm, dry air can sometimes ‘trap’ a cooler and damper layer of air nearer the ground, especially in the winter half of the year. The resultant thin layer of ‘stratocumulus’ cloud can often prove persistent, leading to disappointingly dull weather.