The cloudy rainy weather of low-pressure depressions is due to rising air , which is most pronounced near frontal regions. The anticyclone on the other hand is produced by a large mass of descending air. This subsidence takes place throughout a depth of the atmosphere up to 12km. Such subsidence means that the air is very stable and atmospheric pressure is high. In addition, winds associated with an anticyclone are usually very light if present at all, especially close to the centre of the high-pressure system.
Subsidence warms the air by compression.
Any clouds present quickly evaporate as the temperature of the air rises above its dew point . For this reason, anticyclones usually bring fine, dry and settled weather, particularly in the summer. Sometimes, subsidence and compression of the air can produce a temperature inversion at one or two thousand metres above the ground. Such phenomena act as caps to rising air heated by the ground under the influence of the Sun, preventing extensive air cooling and cloud formation. Unfortunately, if the air is moist below the temperature inversion, a dreary formless layer of cloud can form which becomes difficult to disperse owing to the light winds.