13/03/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

The weather pattern which has kept us stormy over winter,

even into the first part of meteorological spring,

has now taken a significant change

and much quieter weather

on the horizon for the UK -

"Long may it last!", I can hear you say.

This is how the Jet Stream

was directing those stormy

weather systems across the Atlantic.

It was relentless in that

over the winter months,

but now we're seeing high pressure

building across the UK,

changing the position of the jet stream,

and it's a blocking weather pattern,

too, so this is not breaking down

any time soon.

Low pressure systems missing us to the north,

around the high pressure

through the Mediterranean,

and we are free from significant weather systems

in the week ahead.

There are a few niggles out there from time to time,

and we'll detail those day by day.

But it is looking much quieter,

much more settled and benign weather pictures

from weather watchers for much of the week ahead.

This, the view from Northern Ireland

on Saturday where, near the north coast,

it got to around 15 Celsius.

Sunday, somewhere could well match that,

maybe around the Moray coast,

helped by some sunshine

and a favourable wind direction

and plenty of that sunshine

into the afternoon.

Let's take a look -

patchy cloud for Northern Ireland,

southern Scotland, northern England,

rain clearing Shetland.

Around the Moray coast, we can see 15, 16 degrees.

Plenty sunshine for the afternoon

into England and Wales -

in that sunshine, it's going to feel

quite pleasant, but near the coast

of East Anglia, far south-east of England,

not only could you have more cloud,

but you've got a stronger breeze.

That really is pegging the temperatures back,

just about 5 or 6 degrees.

That is one of those niggles

in the week ahead, that around the area

of high pressure, for a time,

we have that chilly wind down towards the south-east

and along the south coast of the UK,

holding temperatures back,

accentuating a chill.

On Monday, though,

still some good sunny spells around,

particularly towards the north-west of the UK,

this is where we get the highest temperatures -

Glasgow at around 13 Celsius,

most of us close to that 10 Celsius mark.

Bear in mind, overnight, though,

where you're clear in particularly rural spots,

there could be a touch of frost -

again, at times this week,

there could be a bit of patchy fog as well,

and as we go into Tuesday,

the high pressure is still close by,

still that chilly wind towards the south-east.

Could see increasing cloud generally

down the eastern side of the UK

and that's why we could see

a few spots of drizzle, seven, eight degrees.

Sunniest weather, though,

to the west and north-west of the UK,

where again, we're into double figures.

Midweek, nothing changing very quickly -

high pressure still close by.

It could well be there's a cloudy zone

though central parts of the UK on Wednesday

that could produce a bit of patchy drizzle.

We're not talking bone-dry this week,

as I mentioned earlier,

but the lack of any significant rainfall

and still the chilly wind down towards the south-east.

By the time we get to Thursday,

could well be cloudier generally.

From thicker cloud,

you may well encounter some patchy drizzle,

but that wind is easing

down towards the south-east of the UK.

It's feeling less chilly,

temperatures around 10 degrees,

and most of us getting 8-10 degrees.

This is the picture going into next weekend,

very much dominated by high pressure,

this blocking weather pattern,

always very slow to break down.

There's a chance we could see

a few Atlantic weather systems

trying to head our way, but that's a very low possibility

at this stage for next weekend.

Most places are looking dry,

variable cloud, some sunny spells.

If you're clear for any period of time overnight,

you could just get a touch of frost,

there could be patchy fog around as well.

So, such a big change

from what we've had over recent months.

I think most people would be happy with that for a while.