02/04/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

It's warming up for most of us over the next few days,

but spring can be fickle.

And the warming weather may well not last.

Beyond next week, it may well turn colder again.

More on that in a moment.

First, let's focus on this rather stubborn, slow-moving weather front.

It drove southwards on Friday

and, during Saturday, is pushing back further north.

Across northern England and Wales, after a wet start,

it should turn a little drier.

The rain creeping back into central and southern Scotland

and Northern Ireland.

Never too far away from the south-west.

Much of northern Scotland, bar the odd shower, dry and bright.

And the bulk of England and Wales seeing some hazy sunshine.

And temperatures climbing. More widely into the teens on Saturday.

It will still be pretty chilly, though, under that rain band.

That tracks further northwards during Saturday evening,

and showers arrive across the south-east,

pushing north across eastern England, into eastern Scotland,

during the early hours of Sunday.

Sunday is a real mess.

The dominant feature is low-pressure systems,

but notice how they're all moving northwards,

which means our air is coming up from the south.

So we are still importing relatively warm air

through the second half of the weekend in particular,

which means, in some sunshine,

temperatures could get to 17 or 18 on Sunday.

But will we see the sunshine? Not everywhere will.

There'll still be weather fronts

bringing showery rain to Scotland and Northern Ireland,

scattered showers elsewhere.

After a misty, murky start, some places will see a bit of sun.

And as I said, if we do,

temperatures could easily get to 18 Celsius.

Low-pressure systems, weather fronts,

continue to dominate into Monday,

but it's a very wish-washy, messy scenario.

This area of low pressure could be a little bit further east.

It will bring some warmth again,

but also with the warmth comes the moisture,

and some heavy rain is possible on Monday.

Most likely across eastern areas

as that low pressure system works its way out into the North Sea.

It's still close by on Tuesday.

Again, pinning down the detail is going to be difficult

with these slow-moving weather systems.

But expect some rain, still, across the north-east on Tuesday,

showers elsewhere.

Still on Tuesday, though, relatively mild,

certainly compared to recent days,

with temperatures widely into double figures

and some getting into the teens.

Then the weather becomes a little more straightforward

from the middle of the week onwards.

We're back to more classic situations

with weather fronts pushing in off the Atlantic on Wednesday.

Again, the timing of this rain band may vary,

but we're back to weather fronts moving through,

Cooler air following on behind.

That cooler air will then dominate for the latter half of next week

as this area of low pressure takes control.

Certainly sitting close by, if not over the UK,

and with the low-pressure in this position,

well, having had the winds from the south this weekend,

the winds likely to be coming down from the north

by the middle or latter part of next weekend.

So, yes, it does get a bit warmer over the next few days,

but it's only a brief warming.

The colder air, the blue colours, gripping the map once more.

From midweek onwards,

temperatures likely to be back down to single figures in many places,

below average, certainly.

All to do with the jet stream, turning westerly

and then driving to the south of the UK.

We're on the cold side of the jet,

and that jet may well mean low-pressure systems are close by.

When that happens, well, the weather is always going to be unsettled

to say the least.

Low-pressure systems, of course, bringing outbreaks of rain.

So, yes, the main themes next week,

after a brief warming spell, it turns colder again.

Expect rain, snow on the hills, and the winds to be picking up as well.

After a brief hit of spring,

hints of winter returning for next weekend.