05/05/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

Seven days is a long time in weather. At the end of last week,

some were plunged back into the depths of winter - heavy snowfall.

Barely a week later,

we've had blue skies all the way from Blackpool through to Ibiza,

on the brink of summer.

And under those blue skies on Wednesday, temperatures started to

soar, particularly across southern France and northern Spain.

And that's important, because that is where

we'll gradually be dragging our weather from.

Elsewhere, though, not the same blue skies for all.

Cloud across Scotland and Northern Ireland. That's this weather front,

which Thursday gets stranded in the far south-east of Scotland, north

of England, Isle of Man down to the south of the Republic of Ireland.

To the north and west of it, another blustery day.

Quite breezy around the Hebrides. Sunshine and showers here.

A bit more sunshine elsewhere across Scotland

and Northern Ireland, and out of the breeze not feeling too bad.

To the south of our weather front, we could still see drizzly rain.

It's going to be another sunny and warm day, temperatures

if not the high teens for some will be over 20 Celsius.

And of course with a bit more in the way of warmth by day,

we've got slightly warmer nights as well.

The air's a little bit more humid than it was to start the week,

so temperatures by night won't drop as much.

There could be a few mist and fog patches.

Most around nine or ten Celsius. Chilliest in the north of Scotland.

But here, the breeze eases down as we go through into Friday.

High pressure gradually builds across the north.

Low pressure starting to develop towards the far south-west

will increase the cloud amounts across England and Wales.

Mainly high cloud at this stage, so hazy sunshine for the most part.

The one fly in the ointment is that weak weather front.

It's pushed northwards into north-east Scotland,

limiting temperatures in Lerwick and Aberdeen to around ten Celsius.

That slowly drags away as we go through into the weekend,

but that low pressure starts to have more of a play,

and we could bring thunderstorms to start the day

across parts of Devon, Cornwall

and also South Wales, pushed up from northern France.

A weather front activates through the day across parts of

northern England, Scotland, Northern Ireland. Turning wetter here.

With windier conditions, feeling rather cool.

But England and Wales, sunshine, when it breaks out,

will lift temperatures widely into the low 20s.

Now, as that low-pressure system gradually pushes a little bit

westwards, the south-easterly winds have more of a play,

pushing the warmer air further north,

chasing the rain clouds away from north-west Scotland,

and so a warmer, sunnier day for the end of the weekend.

Scotland and Northern Ireland, some here hitting 20 Celsius.

A few isolated and pretty intense thunderstorms

could break out across parts of England and Wales

as temperatures reach between 23 and 26 degrees.

A little bit cooler along some eastern coasts of Scotland

and north-east England.

And if you're hoping to escape the heat inland

and head towards the coast, taking a dip in the seas around the UK,

just one word of caution - this is the time of year where the sea's

coming out of its coldest part of the year, only eight to ten degrees.

That does have an impact along eastern coasts.

We could see some mist and sea fog develop through into Monday,

which could lap onshore and keep temperatures limited here.

But a lot of dry, sunny weather.

Warm weather the further north and west you are.

Still warm across England and Wales, by and large, for Monday,

but with increased risk of cloud and some thunderstorms later.

And that's because low pressure plays more of a part into

the second half of next week across the south of the UK,

either bringing up thunderstorms from the near Continent

or growing our own as temperatures rise inland.

High pressure starts to push towards the north-west of the UK, too, and

that keeps the northern half of the UK largely dry through next week.

But after dry and warm starts, that area of high pressure to the north,

low pressure to the south starts to drag in something a bit cooler.

As I said, northern half of the country largely dry,

thundery downpours possible in the south.

Nick Miller will have more same time tomorrow.