09/01/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. Time to take a look further ahead with the forecast

which has been dominated again this week by the wet weather,

the severe flooding, as a result of

some record-breaking rain again in Aberdeenshire.

But actually, through the day on Friday,

we turned our attention to snow

and this was the scene from one of our weather watchers

in the Scottish Borders through the afternoon.

And now the cold air is stuck with us

across the northern half of the country,

subsequent bands of showers

heading northwards will turn readily to snow,

especially over the hills but not exclusively.

And it's going to be quite icy as well.

So, as we start Saturday, a widespread

and fairly penetrating frost

across some parts of the glens of Scotland,

with freezing fog potentially here as well

and Northern Ireland and northern England.

Quite treacherous underfoot

and on untreated roads.

There's a lot of water lying around.

Not as cold as Friday morning further south,

but nevertheless some lively winds and heavy showers,

so if you are driving and caught in those showers,

there'll be a lot of spray and standing water.

As we move through the day,

bands of showers will head northwards and eastwards.

So you see how cold it will feel

with that bracing easterly wind

across northern Scotland.

Stronger winds than on Friday elsewhere

and once those showers come into the cold air

they'll be some snow.

So concern again for slow-moving showers

close to the north and east of Scotland,

perhaps into northern England and Northern Ireland.

And lots of heavy showers for parts of Wales

where there's lots of

standing water at the moment.

The culprit responsible for all these showers,

this area of low pressure,

which is why there'll be showers meandering around.

But look at the tightly packed isobars on Sunday.

Potential for some storm force winds

across the north and north-west of Scotland.

And rain and indeed snow even at low levels

eventually arrives in Shetland as well

after a dryish day here

through the latter part of the week into Saturday.

Perhaps fewer showers elsewhere,

but it will be windy.

Come Monday, notice the change.

It's more of a northerly wind

pulling in the showers.

Once again plenty of showers

close to the north-east of Scotland.

So even though we're seeing showers mostly of snow

and wintry weather, there's still

some more precipitation around.

This northerly wind is originating

right from the Arctic and this is the change

we've been talking about all this week.

The change to something more akin to winter.

We still keep our low pressure,

so we'll still have

a showery airstream across the UK.

But on the whole, with the winds

coming down from the north,

we're cutting off

all this really warm moist air.

Remember, the warmer the air is,

the more moisture it can hold

so the more rain we'll see.

This time we're getting this Arctic blast

through much of the coming week.

So after the weekend, though it will feel cold

over the weekend. Come midweek, we've got

that strong northerly wind

blowing those showers around,

but blowing them through

because the low pressure is still there.

That keeps things a little unsettled,

but not as persistently wet as it has been.

There's a hint that by the end of the week

we could switch back and bring milder air

back in from the Atlantic,

and with it low pressure,

but it is just a small risk at this stage.

For most of the coming week,

although we've got a nasty area

of low pressure slipping towards the south on Monday,

potentially bringing more gales and rain,

the week ahead looks notably colder,

more akin to winter, with that frost and ice,

wintry showers,

but it should for most of us

be dryer than recently.

But there are a few flies

to watch for in the ointment,

so stay in tune with the forecast.

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