08/12/2015 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. The weekend's severe weather has become record-breaking,

if you haven't already heard.

It was the wettest 24-hour period on record across the north-west,

with significant rainfall driving in

on this plume of warm, moist air

and gale or severe gale force gusts of wind.

So in Honister in the Lake District,

341mm of rain was recorded.

Monday was a different day, with some broken cloud, largely dry,

and incredibly mild, with that southerly wind,

temperatures peaking at 16 degrees across west Wales, 61 Fahrenheit.

We keep some lengthy dry spells over the next few days.

Not quite as mild, but does look as though

our next spell of significant rain is likely on Wednesday.

Got some rain clearing away first thing Tuesday morning

across the south and east, and then behind, a trail of showers.

Showers most widespread the further west you are,

some of them heavy and possibly thundery,

and feeling just that little bit fresher as well,

top temperatures of 6 or 7 degrees.

Brighter conditions, perhaps, into eastern Scotland

and east of the Pennines. Still the potential for a cluster of showers

across the Lake District in particular,

and stretching down through east Wales.

Into the East Midlands, south-east corner,

sunny spells and highs of 11 or 12 Celsius.

Now as we move through Tuesday evening and overnight,

we'll see a ridge of high pressure building

and temperatures falling away,

so it'll be a chillier night to follow,

and in fact we could see low single figures in rural spots.

A touch of ground frost not out of the question.

There'll be some rain pushing into the far north-west again,

and this is how we start our day on Wednesday.

There's a rather complicated set of fronts

waiting out in the wings in the Atlantic,

the isobars squeezing together,

yet more wet weather to come,

but nowhere near as heavy or as significant

as the theme that we had over the weekend.

There will be some windy weather, there'll be gales on exposed coasts,

severe gales up into the far north-west,

with the heaviest of the rain into the north-west during the afternoon,

but for most of us, Wednesday stays dry during daylight hours,

highs of 10 to 12 degrees.

That weather front continues to sink its way south and east

during Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Again, still the isobars squeezing together,

gales are still likely.

So it's going to be a wet and windy night to follow

but the rain easing considerably as it pushes south and east.

Here, still mild with that south-westerly flow,

but the wind swinging more to a westerly on Thursday

and it will be a cooler, fresher feel, with showers turning wintry

to the tops of higher ground.

Still stays rather blustery as we move into Wednesday,

again with enhanced showers the further north and west you go,

but this area of low pressure

an area of uncertainty as we move into the weekend.

So Friday looks likely to be cooler and showery

to the north and west with 6 or 7 degrees,

10 to 12, drier weather, across central and southern areas.

There is a great level of uncertainty as to the timings and the position

of this area of low pressure as we move into the weekend,

but there is the potential to bring yet more wet weather with it.

More importantly, it drags up this southerly flow again,

so the milder air returns for the start of the weekend

after that brief, slightly fresher feel to things.

So double figures again across the country,

and we could see some significant snow to the tops of higher ground

as that frontal system continues to push its way steadily north.

The jet stream sits to the north and west into next week,

so for the longer six to ten-day period,

the wettest and the windiest weather to the north-west,

the best of the drier weather in the south and east.

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