25/02/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

We'll see some pretty big changes with the weather patterns,

both on the large scale

and with the wind direction across the UK in the coming days.

But the main theme, even as we head into the first part of March,

is it's going to be staying on the cold side.

Quite a bit of sunshine during Thursday,

which will soon lift the temperatures,

starting below freezing, up to between 3 and 8 Celsius.

A few scattered showers in the west,

some snow showers continuing across the Shetland Isles,

where temperatures will struggle to get much above freezing.

Elsewhere, 3 to 7 or 8 Celsius.

With light winds, in the sunshine,

it doesn't feel too bad after that frosty start.

Again, though it'll turn quite frosty quite quickly

during Thursday evening.

The blue hue taking over the map.

Again, where we see any showers,

it could turn a little bit icy out on the roads,

as temperatures, quite widely, even in towns and cities,

again, get down to freezing.

Rural areas, several degrees below.

Not quite as cold further south and west, you'll notice,

because here we'll see a bit more breeze picking up.

But more importantly, perhaps, a bit more cloud spinning in.

It will be a cloudier day here

with perhaps some more persistent rain,

most likely now to be across the extreme south-west.

But perhaps a few more showers on Friday

across southern and western areas.

Overall, for most, Friday is, again, a dry day.

And, again, after a frosty start, quite a bit of sunshine,

with temperatures around or a touch below average -

3 to 7 Celsius.

But we will start to see the breeze picking up

from this area of wet weather, tied into an area of low pressure.

The low itself is going to drive southwards,

joining with another low,

bringing some pretty wet and windy conditions

to parts of Spain and France this weekend.

The upshot for us on the northern side of that low,

with quite a few isobars on the chart,

means the winds, certainly across the southern portions of the UK,

will be increasing and coming in from a cold direction.

The winds further north will be light,

so it's another fine day by and large, with some sunshine.

Temperatures in the south still 5 to 8 Celsius,

similar to what we'll see for the next few days.

But because you're adding on that wind,

it will feel a lot colder this weekend.

And still, particularly across the south-eastern quarter of the UK,

a bitter wind blowing on Sunday.

Elsewhere, again, the winds relatively light

and most places dry and bright, some sunny spells,

just a few scattered wintry showers.

High pressure remains in control for the early part of the week,

but we're starting to see a change.

During Monday, these weather fronts approaching from the Atlantic.

Back to more of an Atlantic influence early part of next week.

That's all tied in with the jet stream,

that fast-moving ribbon of air.

If you've been with me for the past few nights,

we've been talking about this jet stream driving south

to the west of the UK.

As we go through the weekend, into the early part of next week,

look at the change.

We're back to a more traditional jet stream, if you like,

driving from west to east.

And also, notice it is getting a little bit weaker.

It means that it will be driving the low-pressure systems

towards more northern parts of the UK,

or perhaps to the north of Scotland, even.

But because the jet stream's a bit weaker,

we're not at this stage expecting anything too intense

with these low-pressure systems that drift on through.

It does mean more of an Atlantic influence.

It's a big expanse of water, so there'll be a bit more rain around.

After a largely dry weekend, we will start to see more wet weather

through the early part of next week.

There'll be a different feel.

We'll lose those bitter easterly winds

and the winds will come in from the north-west.

Not particularly warm. It'll still be on the chilly side.

Temperatures about average as we head into the early part of March.

With the low pressures nearer the north,

that's where the wettest of the weather will be

for much of next week.