04/03/2017 Weather for the Week Ahead

Quite a lot going on with the weather

over the next few days, quite changeable weather.

I think we'll all see some rain at times through this weekend.

Take a look at the jet stream,

which is, of course, the driver of our weather.

It's coming out of North America,

it looks pretty powerful.

As I say, it's the driver of our weather,

it's got various weather systems hooked up in it.

That cloud and rain is heading our way,

so, as I say, it looks quite changeable,

quite unsettled, as we head onto the weekend.

We're all going to see some rain at some stage

in the next 48 hours,

some of that rain could well be on the heavy side.

It's not just rain we'll have to contend with -

there will be some fairly blustery winds as well.

If you're caught in that mix of wet and windy weather,

it'll feel quite chilly.

Not all doom and gloom, though. There is at least

some sunshine in the forecast.

Any rain on the eastern side of England

doesn't last too long through Saturday morning,

but it'll be a pretty miserable day

for the eastern side of Scotland,

wet and windy, quite cold as well.

The rain will clear away

towards the north of the central Lowlands.

But Northern Ireland starts off quite wet,

becomes a little drier into the afternoon,

with scattered showers, and scattered showers

affect western England and Wales.

Central and eastern parts of England doing quite well.

A bit of cloud, a little sunshine,

and temperatures in double figures,

quite widely.

Through Saturday night into Sunday,

that rain moves up towards the Northern Isles,

so eventually, it does dry up

on the eastern side of Scotland,

but there are showers elsewhere

as we get onto the small hours of Sunday.

Then we see this next weather feature

set to spread some pretty wet weather

across much of England and Wales on Sunday.

So something of a role reversal,

with the wetter weather on Sunday

for England and Wales.

Rain, followed by sunshine,

then some heavy showers.

For Scotland and Northern Ireland,

just a scattering of showers,

so all in all, a slightly better day.

Sunday night into Monday,

a few showers on the western side of Scotland,

maybe into Northern Ireland as well.

But drying up for England and Wales,

at least temporarily,

because the next low already moving in

towards the south-west by early Monday.

So, it'll be quite wet and quite windy

in the south of Wales, south-west of England.

That rain will push its way

along southern counties of England,

with a bit of a breeze as well.

But actually, elsewhere on Monday,

not such a bad day - it'll be dry, bright,

with variable amount of clouds, but again,

most places are in single figures,

8-9 degrees typical for Monday afternoon.

Through Monday evening - still a few showers

in the north-west, but generally,

as pressure builds, we're going to see

things quieten down, at least temporarily,

because out west,

the next area of wind and rain is gathering.

But actually, many places will start on a bright note.

And the further east you are, you'll hang onto

that dry and bright weather for the longest,

because it goes downhill in Northern Ireland,

turning wet and windy,

and that wetter, windier weather moves its way

into the western side of the mainland

through the afternoon - that wet, windy weather

will spread to all parts

later on on Tuesday.

Then looking ahead to the middle

and latter part of next week -

the jet stream drifts

a little bit further north,

and areas of low pressure will be

running along that to bring

some wind and some rain

into the north and west of the UK.

Largely dry further south and east,

and then into next weekend,

that jet stream takes quite a dive

towards the south,

becomes quite amplified,

and as that process happens,

we're likely to see low pressure

building to the east of the UK,

with high pressure out towards

the west and, of course,

the resultant winds,

they'll be coming down from the north.

Of course, that's always a cold direction.

We are expecting to see temperatures

dropping away as we head on

into next weekend,

as that northerly wind becomes established.

So, into next weekend, it looks like it will

be turning that bit colder,

but it's not all doom and gloom.

There will be sunny spells,

the best of those in more southern areas

but there are going to be some showers,

and with that northerly breeze,

if you're exposed to the north,

then you're more likely to see those showers.