0:00:02 > 0:00:04I have heard it said that when you
0:00:04 > 0:00:07get a blizzard in America, it turns up on our doorstep a few days later.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09That actually turns out
0:00:09 > 0:00:12to be something of an old wives' tale which means that what
0:00:12 > 0:00:15we have seen in New York City in recent days is unlikely to
0:00:15 > 0:00:19appear on the streets of London over the next few days.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23The reason for that is that we tend to get our intensely cold air
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and our widespread snow when the wind is coming in from the east
0:00:26 > 0:00:29or from the north, from the Arctic.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32When we have westerly winds, as we have had in recent days
0:00:32 > 0:00:34and will continue to do,
0:00:34 > 0:00:39any pulses of cold air tend to get heavily modified by the huge
0:00:39 > 0:00:44expanse of the Atlantic Ocean which is relatively warm.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47That means that, what starts off as snow stateside,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50will soon get warmed out and turn to rain.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53So this particular storm system is travelling across the Atlantic
0:00:53 > 0:00:57rapidly and is warming out as I speak.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59This means that what falls out of the sky over the next few
0:00:59 > 0:01:02days will be wet rather than white.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Wet and windy.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07Foul start to the day for many north-western areas,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10with gusts over 60mph rattling up the Irish Sea.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13That could have an impact, as could the heavy rain.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Couple of inches or more in some places. Met Office warnings in force.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19A wet and windy start across the north and the west, a dry and
0:01:19 > 0:01:22bright start across the south-east but the rain will eventually arrive.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25It brightens up later on across Northern Ireland and Scotland,
0:01:25 > 0:01:27with a few showers.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30After a chilly start, temperatures will rise up
0:01:30 > 0:01:33into double figures, courtesy of those mild westerly winds.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36And then a double whammy, potentially.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38As we go through Tuesday night and into Wednesday,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41another area of low pressure tracking across the north.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44The exact track of that is important because on the northern fringe
0:01:44 > 0:01:47we could see some snow, mostly up over the high ground.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49A lot of wet weather and potentially some very strong winds
0:01:49 > 0:01:51on the southern flank as well.
0:01:51 > 0:01:52So watch this space.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55That clears through later on on Wednesday
0:01:55 > 0:01:57and then we're into brighter conditions
0:01:57 > 0:01:59but also colder conditions,
0:01:59 > 0:02:00with some showers turning to snow,
0:02:00 > 0:02:03particularly over the high ground of Northern Ireland and Scotland.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06But I'm not expecting widespread blizzards or anything like that
0:02:06 > 0:02:10but it will be turning colder later on across the north-west.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Into Thursday, something of a lull.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Brighter skies for many with some pleasant sunshine.
0:02:16 > 0:02:17Temperatures not as high.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Then we will see some more weather systems spreading rain
0:02:20 > 0:02:23and strong winds into the north and the west.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Another pulse of relatively mild air coming in off the Atlantic
0:02:27 > 0:02:30before a cold front arrives later on in the day.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32So temperatures bouncing back up again on Friday,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35up into double figures quite widely.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Then we will see a pulse of colder air following that frontal
0:02:38 > 0:02:42system south-eastwards, so temperatures falling back down again,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44into single figures in many places.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48Some sunshine but also some wintry showers, especially in the north.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51You get the idea that temperatures are going up and down like a yo-yo
0:02:51 > 0:02:53and that is really the message for the week ahead.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55We'll see spells of wet and windy weather,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57relatively mild conditions, then colder,
0:02:57 > 0:03:01brighter conditions with overnight frost before the mild,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03wet and windy weather spreads back in again.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06All courtesy of a pretty strong jet stream,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09coming in from the Atlantic, coming in from the west.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Hence no real potential for widespread snow or severe cold.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16So to sum up, next week, yet day-to-day fluctuations.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Rapid changes, some sun, some rain, some wind.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Snow possible, particularly over the high ground,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26but certainly no widespread blizzards envisaged for some time to come.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30That's it from me, I will update you again this time tomorrow.