13/04/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. We saw temperature differences across England

alone during Tuesday, of 10 degrees or more.

Temperature contrasts are being played out across the UK

and will continue to do so.

The weather patterns aren't changing much.

The reason is this unusual S-shape of a jet stream

across the northern Atlantic.

We are used to it going from West to East,

that changes the weather patterns quite rapidly.

With this pattern,

the weather systems underneath don't move very far.

On this bulge towards the south we have got low-pressure centred,

on the bulge to the north, high pressure.

So high pressure to the north, low pressure to the south,

it'll be that way through much of this week.

Dividing line between what is cold air

and warm air is a weather front which will be across the far

north of England, into Scotland and Northern Ireland,

bringing rain through the day.

Chilly conditions to the north of that, bit of a breeze.

Warmer air to the south after mist and morning fog.

Sunshine comes out, temperatures lift

and we will see some thunderstorms develop.

The thunderstorms could come with hail.

It will be another warm day, whereas further north, another cold day,

especially in the wind which will be still with us.

Outbreaks of rain across eastern Scotland and north-east England.

Showers taking longer to decay away across England

and Wales into Thursday morning.

Slightly bigger temperature contrasts into Thursday morning,

with colder air cooling across the north of Scotland.

A touch of frost around.

That dividing line between the cold and warm air still with us

on Thursday, high to the north, low to the south.

Nothing much changing there.

But there will be some changes, there will be a bit more brightness

across Scotland, Northern Ireland and the far north of England.

Still some rain, still a bit cool

and grim down these eastern coasts.

An improvement on the past few days.

England and Wales, morning cloud breaks up, sunshine comes

through, warm once again but that sets off thunderstorms.

You can see those temperature contrasts in action.

A little cooler to the south-west by this stage

and that is because the low pressure to the south of us

starts to become a bit more dominant, at least for Friday.

At the same time, a weather front pushes into the north

of Scotland, introducing even colder air.

A bit of snow on the tops of the hills as well,

even to lower levels later.

England and Wales, a lot more cloud around, showers,

longer spells of rain. The odd thunderstorm can't be ruled out.

Temperatures, by and large,

UK-wide, will be down on what we have at the moment.

Into Saturday, the cold front pushes southwards.

There could still be some snow, not just to the hills.

Brighter weather developing across the far north.

To the south, still plenty of cloud,

still the chance of showers at times.

That will take us into Sunday.

The low pressure starting to pull away by Sunday.

How quickly it goes, how quick that colder air pushes its way

southwards is one thing we will have to watch.

It could happen quicker than shown on the charts.

Sunday could be a better day but at the moment, it still looks

a potential for showers, mainly across England and Wales.

Brighter, lighter winds the further north you are.

Beyond that, though, there is a greater sign that it is high

pressure that will dominate into next week.

Not as much low pressure, as Darren was hinting at yesterday.

The high pressure, how far east

and how quickly it comes in will be the biggest question.

If it stalls and stays to the west of us,

it will continue to feed in cooler conditions across the UK.

But it could easily build across the UK a little further east

and if it does so, that will allow south or south-easterly winds

to become a bit more dominant and bring a bit more warmth in.

That is one big question mark for next week.

Either way, it looks drier than this week.

Even if we get that high pressure to the west with a colder air,

the sun is still strong enough to give a bit of daytime warmth.

But by night, either regime could still produce a little

bit of night-time frost.