22/04/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello there, as we head towards the end of April,

we're well and truly into spring now, but the weather can be

a little bit of tease at this time of year - on the one hand it giveth,

and that's exactly what happened on Thursday -

warmest day of the year so far, 20 degrees in Porthmadog,

68 Fahrenheit, but it can also taketh away.

And just look at next week, it's going to feel noticeably cooler,

yes, with even a dusting of snow to the tops of higher ground.

For the here and now, though,

we've got some contrasting weather conditions around as well.

Sunshine across Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland

but a cooler feel here, and there'll be some outbreaks of rain.

Fairly persistent across the south-west,

light and patchy through southern England and the Midlands.

But temperatures down on where they have been in recent days for some.

And the reason being this colder air that's spilling in from

the Arctic and that is going to descend further south

as we move towards the weekend. A noticeable change in the story,

not only for the weekend but also into next week.

So, yes, it's going to feel colder - there will be some sunshine

and showers, turning increasingly wintry

and also at the same time, with clearer skies we could see

widespread night-time frosts. So that weather front meanders its way

slowly south, it will be slow to clear across Channel coasts

and then a day of sunny spells. Most of the showers on Saturday

across the North Sea coast where that brisk breeze will be

making it feel much cooler. And to higher ground there will be

some sleet and snow as well. But there'll also be some sunshine...

But the difference will be the feel of the story -

6 to 13 degrees at the very best. And as we move out of Saturday

into Sunday, that's when we're likely to see the clearer skies

and the frost descend across the country.

So, it's going to be a chilly start to Sunday morning -

lows could get down to minus 4 degrees.

Certainly, gardeners take note and if you're taking part

in the London Marathon, you might need a couple of extra bin bags

for waiting on the starting line.

And a very chilly start first thing on Sunday morning,

with the risk of some showers.

Now, turning increasingly wintry to lower levels in the north.

Hail could be an issue in the south-east corner

by the end of Sunday afternoon. As we move into Monday, again we've

still got this cold, Arctic flow descending on us,

with most of the showers across the north and east.

There will be some snow falling now, even at lower levels,

feeling quite cold here. But in a little more shelter into the west,

perhaps not quite as bad. Now, the showers will be enhanced

overnight into Tuesday by these troughs and that could

leave some snow, some slushy deposits at lower levels

first thing on Tuesday. But with a little bit of sunshine,

it should help to thaw that quite rapidly away.

But it's going to be a cold day. Again, the further west

the best of the sunshine - highs 6 to 13 degrees.

"What on earth is going on?" I hear you ask.

Well, there's an area of low pressure

and it's centred into the North Sea. Now, around that low,

the winds swing in a anticlockwise direction -

it's dragging in this colder, Arctic flow, but as we move out of

April into the early stages of May, it looks as though this

high pressure is set to build from the west.

And around the high, the winds swing in a clockwise direction,

turning back to a westerly. So, a milder direction.

So, potentially we could be back to square one.

It looks as though, by the early half of May there's the potential

for something a little milder, a little drier,

with fewer showers and certainly not wintry.

And even, fingers crossed, back to some decent sunny spells.

I'd like to end on a positive note, take care.