0:00:02 > 0:00:05Hello. Some wet weather and some snow in the forecast as we arrive at
0:00:05 > 0:00:07the New Year - at the moment, no such problems,
0:00:07 > 0:00:11but there's some frost and fog to worry about, fog a particular
0:00:11 > 0:00:14issue across England and Wales as we go through the day on Wednesday.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17There are warnings in force, and with a lot of people on the move,
0:00:17 > 0:00:19I'm expecting some disruption,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22so check out your BBC local radio station before you set off.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Most of the fog is closest to this area of high pressure across
0:00:25 > 0:00:27England and Wales.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29You'll notice further north-west there are more isobars.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32That means breezier conditions for Scotland and Northern Ireland,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35the odd spot of rain across the Western Highlands, otherwise dry.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37But with lighter winds further south and east,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40that fog will be loath to clear, and in some places it won't.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Having said that, many of us will enjoy some sunshine.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45Western parts of England and Wales and parts of
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Northern Ireland and Scotland seeing some brightness.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Temperatures, well, mid single figures typically,
0:00:51 > 0:00:53milder than that across the far north of Scotland,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57but where that fog lingers all day long across central and some
0:00:57 > 0:01:00eastern parts of England, I'm expecting temperatures to
0:01:00 > 0:01:03struggle to get above freezing all day long.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07And that fog will probably become more extensive again into the night,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10again closest to this area of high pressure, which is going nowhere
0:01:10 > 0:01:13fast across these more southern and eastern parts of the UK.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Further north-west, we've got approaching weather fronts.
0:01:16 > 0:01:17I think the persistent rain will hold off,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20but still some drizzly stuff across the west of Scotland and
0:01:20 > 0:01:24a notable breeze across many parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26It'll help to keep the temperature relatively high here,
0:01:26 > 0:01:30double figures across the north-west of Scotland once more.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Further south and east, though, again that fog will be slow to lift,
0:01:33 > 0:01:35particularly across some central and eastern areas.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Where that happens, once more it'll be particularly chilly.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41A lot of low cloud around, in any case.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44Now, as we go from Thursday into Friday, no great changes.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48A bit more breeze across southern areas will help to lift the fog, and
0:01:48 > 0:01:51that front is a little bit closer across the far north of
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Scotland, so some of that rain turning rather more persistent here.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57But ahead of that, a freshening south-westerly wind, and that will
0:01:57 > 0:01:59introduce pretty mild air across
0:01:59 > 0:02:01much of Northern Ireland and Scotland
0:02:01 > 0:02:03and potentially across the north-east of Scotland,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06up into the low to mid teens briefly.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09But as we go from Friday into New Year's Eve,
0:02:09 > 0:02:11we're going to start to see some changes,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13certainly more breezy conditions across southern areas.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16That will lift the last of the fog, we think,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19and hopefully temperatures will start to recover.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21Across the far north of Scotland,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24that wet weather will start to spread its way southwards.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Now, the timing of that is still a little bit uncertain.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29As we go from New Year's Eve into New Year's Day,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32rain will start to head southwards on a cold front.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34And because it's a cold front,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37we're going to see colder air behind it, Arctic air, in fact, eventually,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41and the showers across the north of Scotland will turn to snow.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44That rain, though, heads its way down across England and Wales
0:02:44 > 0:02:47during the course of New Year's Day, so some fairly wet weather around.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Now, that weather front will clear through,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51and the Arctic air will spread southwards,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54so for the first few days of January I'm expecting
0:02:54 > 0:02:56a return to some fairly widespread frosts.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Fog probably not too much of an issue, at least initially, because
0:02:59 > 0:03:03the winds will be fairly blustery coming down from the north.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Now, how long the cold air lasts is in question,
0:03:06 > 0:03:07because, for a time at least,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11the cold Arctic air could be cut off by some milder westerly conditions.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13You see the yellows oozing in.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17But that may only be temporary, because some forecast models
0:03:17 > 0:03:21indicate that we'll see another push of cold Arctic air later next week.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24So that's the big question mark in the forecast,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27really - how long any milder interlude lasts.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29But for many, it's a fairly chilly outlook.