18/02/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. Earlier in the week I said

we were just a couple of weeks from the end of meteorological winter,

but we were likely to see all faces of winter

before the month of February was through.

Actually, we saw them on Wednesday.

Just look at this in the far north-west of Scotland -

a dusting of snow in Lanarkshire to greet us on Wednesday morning.

In the far south-east corner, through Essex,

we had a frosty start but blue sky and sunshine.

Sandwiched in between the two, it was pretty dismal,

with a lot of cloud and rain around across the Midlands.

Thanks for these Weather Watchers' photographs.

Now, that weather front still yet to clear away during Thursday.

It will slowly do so across the Essex and Kent coast,

here, just lingering, but elsewhere a lot of sunshine coming through

and just a scattering of wintry showers even at lower levels

with highs of 5 to 8 Celsius.

But as we move out of Thursday,

it looks as though we'll keep some clearer skies and lighter winds

through central and eastern areas - here, the possibility of a frost.

The isobars squeeze together, the winds start to strengthen,

and we'll start to see the arrival

of a weather front pushing in from the west,

so milder, with temperatures staying above freezing.

So we start off the day on Friday with a west-east divide.

We cling on to the best of the sunshine in sheltered eastern areas.

The winds will strengthen, the rain arrives,

there'll be some snow on the leading edge,

but then it's likely to turn back to rain

as milder air continues to push in from the west.

It does look as though it'll be wilder, wetter and windier for many

on Saturday, and that marks the start of a change in the story.

As we move through Saturday afternoon

temperatures could peak at 14 degrees.

Still staying pretty cold up into the far north.

It's this milder air flooding in

across the majority of England and Wales which will see temperatures

sitting above the average for the time of year.

But to the far north, we keep that cold air -

5 degrees possible in Scotland.

That's the boundary for a frontal system,

and that could mark some significant issues

as we move into Sunday. There's the potential for some heavy rain,

some flooding rain, perhaps, into north-west Wales,

north-west England, maybe even some significant snow

across parts of Scotland.

Now, that all depends on where this weather front tends to lie,

and it is definitely subject to change.

But it's worth keeping a close eye on the forecast for Sunday.

Further south on Sunday, it's a windy one,

but again, it's still pretty mild,

with some showery outbreaks of rain from time to time.

Highs of 6 to 13 degrees.

And that marks a change. As the wind directions

move from a south-westerly into a north-westerly,

we flip back into a colder feel across the country,

significantly noticeable down into the Midlands,

maybe double figures into the south.

So for our longer, six- to ten-day period,

what's happening? Well, the jet stream buckles up into the north,

it allows high pressure to build into the south-west,

but drags in this colder air for a time.

So early into next week, it could be cold again.

We flip-flop back, the jet stream reverts back to a westerly,

stretching across the country, driving low pressures in,

and things become a little more unsettled.

So I suspect there could be something for everybody

into next week. The early half of next week,

if you like your mornings cold and frosty with some wintry showers

but some chilly winds, you'll be happy.

However, if you like it just that little bit milder,

and not sure, but if you do like wet and windy,

you'll be happy with this one.

But there will be some drier interludes as well.

A lot to play for before that,

but that's the story as we go into next week.

Don't forget, keep watching the forecast for weekend developments.