0:00:02 > 0:00:05Here we are at the middle of the week, and a lot of you want to know
0:00:05 > 0:00:07what the weather's going to be like this weekend.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09I wish I could give you a definitive answer,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12but sometimes, the atmospherics just are not that clear cut.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15The atmospherics haven't been clear cut in the last 24 hours or so.
0:00:15 > 0:00:16We've seen huge contrasts.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Lots of lovely sunshine here in Cornwall on Tuesday.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22Torrential rain further east, and across England,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25deluges across East Anglia and the south-east.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27But I want to journey to the other side of the Atlantic,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30and point out one of the pieces of the jigsaw
0:00:30 > 0:00:32which is causing us problems here in the Weather Centre.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35It's the behaviour of this area of low pressure
0:00:35 > 0:00:39which will dictate how things prevail come the weekend.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41As we'll see in a moment.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Ahead of that, another day of sunshine and showers on Wednesday.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48The distribution of showers not the same as it was on Tuesday,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51so some places will see rather more rain
0:00:51 > 0:00:53and others will see rather less rain than we saw on Tuesday.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Across Northern Ireland and Scotland,
0:00:55 > 0:00:57rather more in the way of showers around,
0:00:57 > 0:00:59some of them quite heavy through the afternoon.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01They'll rattle through on the breeze
0:01:01 > 0:01:03and there will be some sunshine in between.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06Cool, though. Temperatures still struggling across the country.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Stuck in the mid- to high teens for the most part.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11There'll be a few showers across northern England.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Western parts of England and Wales by the afternoon
0:01:13 > 0:01:15doing pretty well for sunshine.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17If you're heading to the coast, you'll see some blue sky here.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20But another crop of sharp showers across parts of the south-east,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23though not the intense disruptive downpours
0:01:23 > 0:01:24which some of us have seen recently.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28On into Thursday. I've mentioned this troublemaker behind me.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32But ahead of that, we've got a ridge of high pressure building in,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34so I'm pretty optimistic for Thursday.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37Most of us will be dry. Showers very isolated. Plenty of blue sky.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Winds fairly light, which will feel very nice indeed.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42And, of course, Thursday marks, firstly,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46the first day of the Lord's Test, England taking on Pakistan,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48where we should see, hopefully, a full day's play.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52We also have the first day of the Open golf up there in Troon.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54And although Thursday, I think, will be dry,
0:01:54 > 0:01:56it's a different story for Friday.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58The rain will be arriving, we think,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02across the west of Scotland and, indeed, Northern Ireland,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04as this set of weather fronts duly arrives.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07Now, further south and east across the country on Friday,
0:02:07 > 0:02:09I think it will stay dry.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11It might turn increasingly cloudy,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13but we'll hold on to the fine weather.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15In any brightness, it'll feel pleasant enough
0:02:15 > 0:02:18closest to that high pressure, whereas further north and west,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21an increasing breeze, and we'll have the cloud and outbreaks of rain,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23so not feeling all that summer-like.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27And then what happens next? Well, it's a good question.
0:02:27 > 0:02:28If you were watching yesterday,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31you'll know a lot hinges on the progress of this weather front,
0:02:31 > 0:02:33that weather system out in the Atlantic,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36and how quickly it spreads its way down towards the south-east.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38It's the dividing line between humid air across the south-east
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and cooler air to the north-west.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42It could stay further north,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45which means that many places will enjoy warm, humid conditions,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48temperatures up into the mid-20s, potentially, in any sunshine.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52However, it could find its way further down towards the south,
0:02:52 > 0:02:55which means that most places will see cooler conditions
0:02:55 > 0:02:56come the weekend.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59And it does look as if, eventually, come what may,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01the cooler air will win.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03So any heat will not last all that long
0:03:03 > 0:03:05as the jet stream gets going again
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and pushes that frontal system out of the way.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Now, given that we've seen twisting and turning
0:03:10 > 0:03:12in the story over the last 24, 48 hours,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14my advice would be to watch this space
0:03:14 > 0:03:16and watch this broadcast again tomorrow.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19But at this stage, that's how we see things panning out,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21and by early next week, I think wettest in the north-west,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24the driest conditions across the south-east,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27but no real sign of any prolonged heat at this stage.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Helen will update you again tomorrow.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34You're in cold water, you're not going to last long.