Barometric Pressure Forecast for Wakefield, United Kingdom
Barometric pressure forecast for Wakefield, England — in the Calder valley east of the Pennines in West Yorkshire. See current barometric pressure and what it means for weather-sensitive people.
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Pressure and weather in Wakefield
Wakefield lies in the Calder valley in West Yorkshire, on the eastern side of the Pennines where the hills fall away toward the Vale of York. That position places the city in a partial rain shadow: Atlantic depressions crossing from the west drop much of their moisture on the high ground of the South Pennines, so Wakefield is noticeably drier than Manchester on the other side, even though it experiences nearly identical pressure changes. Between October and February the Atlantic storm track runs directly over northern England, delivering a succession of depressions with falls of twenty to thirty hectopascals not unusual, and the Met Office naming the strongest of them. Summer can bring long blocking spells when a high settles over the country and the barometer stays flat and elevated for a week or more. Anticyclonic gloom in winter, with low cloud trapped under a strong high, is a distinct local pattern worth noting separately.
What this means for you
Because the Pennines strip out the rain but not the pressure change, Wakefield can have a dry, unremarkable-looking day that still carries a substantial barometric fall. That makes the barometric pressure forecast more informative than the rain forecast, and worth logging in a headache tracking app alongside your symptoms.