30/03/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

Well, for most of us it's turning into a coolish end

to what's been a coolish month.

What chance of some warmth as we head into April?

Well, stay tuned - for some us, I've got a bit of good news.

Not much sign of warmth, really, at the moment,

because the jet stream is to the south of us,

and when we lie to the north of the jet stream,

we're very much on the chilly side of things -

in fact, it's been cold enough over the last couple of days

for some snow in the showers, and a similar story on Wednesday -

up over the highest ground, a bit of wintriness.

There will be a scattering of showers around,

but having said that, there's a good chance

that where you are you'll avoid the showers

and continue to see some fine weather.

Here's a snapshot mid-afternoon.

You see the showers dotted around, and, yes, bit of the white stuff

up over the Northern Pennines

and perhaps the Scottish Highlands, as well,

but some large spaces in between the showers,

indicating that there's a good chance

that, where you are, you will stay dry.

Not exactly warm -

9 or 10 degrees in the sunnier spells,

but, when the showers come along,

those temperatures fall away by several degrees,

and it feels distinctly chilly, with the wind picking up, as well.

Now, compared to Tuesday afternoon,

when we saw a lot of heavy rain

sweeping across Wales and south-west England,

I think it will be a brighter affair -

not ruling out the odd shower, but plenty of sunshine mixed in, too.

Sunshine and showers across south-east England and East Anglia.

12 degrees at best in the London area.

Not as warm as it will be in the subcontinent,

with the World T20 semifinals taking place for the women

and for the men, England involved.

Hot and sweaty - 27 degrees even in the night-time in New Delhi.

Nothing like 27 degrees back home overnight -

in fact, as we go through Wednesday night and into Thursday morning,

many places will be having a frost.

This could well be the scene where you are on Thursday morning.

A cold and frosty start -

but at this time of year, of course,

the sun is rising ever earlier, so, soon warming up.

In fact, Thursday's looking like a nice day.

Still one or two showers around,

particularly across the more northern areas,

but they'll be few and far between, and, for most of us,

a lot of sunshine and light winds. It'll feel a bit more like it.

How long does it last?

Well, for many of us, not that long -

in fact, another front pushes into Northern Ireland and Scotland.

It tries to head southwards from Friday into Saturday,

and then it heads back northwards again -

it does mean that the northern half of the UK

can expect to see quite a lot of rain

as we head into the weekend.

In contrast, further south, the rain never arrives,

and, in any brightness, it'll feel quite pleasant

across the south-east, approaching the mid teens.

Now, from Saturday into Sunday,

that front continues to head its way northwards,

taking the rain with it,

an area of low pressure developing out west,

so it's more northern and western areas

which are likely to catch most of the rain,

and that'll keep the temperatures down across these areas -

perhaps no more than 10-12 degrees.

However, further south and east,

particularly if we see some sunshine,

we could get up into the mid - possibly high - teens.

We're going to briefly, perhaps, start to import air

up from near continent - a little dome of warmth.

How long it lasts as we go into next week

is still very much open to question,

but it does look as if the jet stream's going to start

to power in again from the Atlantic,

push that little plume of warmth eastwards,

and things kind of revert back to normal again

with those westerly winds,

that strong jet stream delivering some outbreaks of rain again.

So, to sum up next week,

any plume of warmth from the continent

probably not lasting all that long -

watch this space -

but it looks as if the westerlies will return

and start to cool off again during the course of next week.

Alex Deakin will update you again tomorrow.