23/12/2016 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. Either side of Christmas, we have chalk and cheese weather.

Right up to Christmas, some very stormy conditions,

all because we have a very strong jet stream

that's whistling across the Atlantic,

and initially picking up this area of cloud here.

This is our second named storm of the season,

Storm Barbara.

It's tracking towards our shores

on that very strong jet stream.

Ahead of it, we've had some poor weather

already across Scotland, some more snow.

But the showers here are becoming fewer

and less wintry.

England and Wales - largely clear skies,

one or two mist and fog patches, perhaps.

Out towards the west, the wind will pick up,

picking up the temperatures

and blowing in more cloud.

And some rain in the north-west -

the first sign of that storm

that's heading our way.

So it's a deep area of low pressure,

Storm Barbara,

and it's going to track the centre,

just to the north of Scotland.

There'll be some strong winds everywhere.

On that weather front,

there'll be some heavy rain.

Very quickly, it turns very windy

and very wet in the morning

across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Some pretty awful weather in the morning.

That heavy rain and squally winds

drives into western parts of England and Wales

in the afternoon.

East Anglia, the south-east largely dry,

but still windy.

We're going to find some heavy showers

rattling into Scotland and Northern Ireland

later on in the afternoon, after the rain.

It's later in the afternoon, into the evening,

that the winds really ramp up a notch or two

in the north of Scotland.

Gusts of 80 or possibly 90mph.

It's because of that that we have this amber -

be prepared - wind warning

from the Met Office.

There may be some travel disruption, there may be some damage as well.

It's nothing out of the ordinary, though,

for this time of the year.

But, nevertheless, Storm Barbara moves away

during Friday night.

Still very windy across some northern areas

into Saturday.

Saturday, of course, is Christmas Eve.

By the morning, it won't be as windy,

but we'll still have some blustery showers,

some snow over the Scottish hills again.

Bright and breezy further south.

Cloud amounts will increase,

and we'll see some rain arriving in the north-west.

That's on that weather front there.

They're all driven by the next area

of low pressure picked up by the jet stream,

this one not as deep, the winds not as strong.

However, it will be a very windy day on Christmas Day.

We're drawing in some very mild air as well,

the temperatures could be into the mid-teens.

Tempered by those really strong and gusty winds,

and there will be some rain driving southwards,

away from Scotland and Northern Ireland,

into England and Wales. As that clears away,

some colder air arrives in the north-west.

It could eventually turn into a white Christmas,

maybe, in Scotland.

By the time we get to Boxing Day,

temperatures will be significantly lower.

It will feel quite a lot colder

across northern areas

where it's still windy on Boxing Day.

There's going to be some wintry showers around too,

but for the south, across the UK,

close to this developing area of high pressure,

the winds will be lighter

and there should be quite a bit of sunshine around.

So things look very different in the run-up to New Year.

We're going to find some frosty weather returning

with some clearer skies, maybe some patches of fog.

That may eventually lift into low cloud.

As we head closer to the New Year,

there will be a tendency to increase cloud amounts

all the while, and lose a lot of the sunshine.

Why is this happening? High pressure.

High pressure is building in across the UK.

The centre slips away towards the near continent.

That will allow more of a southerly wind to develop.

That will draw up some milder air, some windier conditions,

but most places still dry,

albeit increasingly cloudy.

That's it from me. Goodbye.