05/03/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. After a snowy end to the week, it'll stay cold

through the weekend. Whilst the heaviest of the snow

has cleared away, I wouldn't be surprised

if we get a few flakes of snow

across East Anglia and the south-east on Saturday,

particularly across the hills.

The Chilterns, for example,

could see some wet snow first thing.

The cold air stream

is with us into Monday.

You can see all of that blue, the cold air.

Milder air wants to get in

but it won't reach us till Wednesday.

We'll have a look at that later.

In the short term, with the cold air

sitting on top of us and this low pressure

close by, there's always a risk

of some winteriness. The thinking is,

during Saturday, it's cloudy, cold,

and gloomy with outbreaks of rain,

at times sleet,

across eastern and south-eastern areas,

some sleet and snow showers

on those cold northerly winds

across Scotland, the Borders, north-east of England,

but the majority of the UK

should have a relatively fine day

with sunny spells. Cold, temperatures around 5 or 6 degrees.

Sunday - the low pressure

and those sluggishly moving weather fronts

are still close by,

still just about nibbling away on East Anglia

and the south-east,

so it may still be cloudy and damp

but it should brighten up.

There's another weather system

for Sunday night,

which could bring a bit of winteriness

but during the course of Sunday,

it's looking bright and cold -

4 degrees in Newcastle,

6 for Plymouth.

On Sunday night into Monday,

we could see a little rain,

possibly some winteriness across the hills

of western parts of the UK

but Monday itself

does look as though it should be a mostly dry day,

probably the last coldish day.

You can still see the arrows coming in

from the Arctic, so a nippy day,

particularly across Scotland,

but, on balance, it's not going to be

such a bad day.

The milder air is in the Atlantic,

waiting to come our way

and the hint is in the jet stream.

This is Monday - the jet stream is coming in from the north,

but then this dramatic change.

By the time we get to Tuesday,

it comes in straight from the west,

from the slightly less cold North Atlantic,

so this is another way of looking at it.

This is the wind closer to the surface,

it's pushing in weather fronts

and that slightly milder air.

The really mild air is way towards the south.

Perhaps outbreaks of rain and thicker cloud

across western areas.

Those temperatures sluggishly creeping up.

5 degrees across eastern parts of the UK.

The middle part of the week -

one weather system crossing across the country.

Just about cold enough for some wintery weather

across the hills.

Wednesday - we might get to double figures

across the south of the country,

but the milder air

is way towards the west of Ireland at this stage.

End of the week - high pressure to the south,

and areas of low pressure coming in off the North Atlantic,

we get that squeeze of slightly milder air,

so it comes in off the Atlantic,

so things will turn that little bit milder.

Real spring is not on the cards just yet,

but at least we'll lose those cold northerly winds

and the risk of significant snow.