23/04/2017 Weather for the Week Ahead

Well, it looks like the week ahead is going to bring a resurgence

of cold, wintry weather. Just to remind you that winter

was not that long ago but, in the short term, the rest of the weekend,

no sign of any cold weather. It's actually not looking bad at all.

There'll be some sunshine around

but the mornings will be on the nippy side.

Now, it's settled right now because we have an area

of high pressure over us, and any big changes that are heading

our way are still way towards the north of us.

So, Sunday starts off on a calm note.

There will be some sunshine around,

maybe even some pockets of frost, if you're up very early.

And the weather's not looking bad at all across southern areas,

especially for the London Marathon. Quite a fresh run.

By the afternoon, temperatures might get up to 15 or 16 but,

on balance, fresh start.

Now, the changes are already starting to take place

in the afternoon on Sunday across northern parts of the UK/Scotland.

Now, this area of low pressure

is going to be responsible for opening

the doors to a stream

of colder air coming in from the northern climes

so, already, early on Monday,

we'll see this weather front here,

let's call it a cold front,

it's quite a complicated meteorological mess here but,

essentially, what's happening is we're seeing

a stream of colder air

coming in from the north, and wintry showers

will start to fall across the hills of Scotland.

Look how big the contrast is

between the north and the south.

Then, through the course of Monday into Tuesday,

that cold front will sweep into the continent,

and then we start to see that northerly setting in.

A true, cold northerly wind. Now, how cold is it going to get?

The important thing to remember is,

at this time of the year,

the sun is incredibly powerful.

So, that means those temperatures

aren't really going to dip that low.

We're not expecting sub-zero values

or anything like that. It's just going to feel cold

in the wind but those temperatures

are still going to be pretty low for the time of the year.

We're talking about maybe six degrees across Scotland and barely

getting into double figures across southern areas.

And when we get the cold air and the strong sunshine,

we see big storm clouds building.

Some of them will bring hail almost anywhere in the UK.

And there'll be some snow around as well.

Mostly across the hills,

and there is a possibility of that snow settling as well.

Then, overnight, when the skies clear, we'll probably see

some frost forming as well.

So I think a good two or three days of a proper chill on the way.

Wednesday's going to be the last day when we see those wintry

showers with hail, maybe some thunder,

but also plenty of sunshine around as well.

So, that's Wednesday's weather forecast.

Those temperatures still into single figures across many areas,

maybe just about touching double figures across the far south,

and, in fact, by the time

we get to Wednesday, look how far south

this colder air stream will have reached.

We're talking about the north coast of Spain here

so this is chilly air that will have originated from the Arctic.

By the time we get to Thursday,

that's when the change happens.

Rather than weather systems coming in from the north,

we'll start to see weather fronts lining up in the Atlantic

here and moving from the west.

Now this here is much milder air

so, essentially, what's going to happen,

the colder air stream from the north is going to be cut off

and we'll start to see weather systems coming in from the west.

So, Thursday onwards,

that colder air stream

should be abating and we'll start to see

the milder air coming in during the course of

Friday and the weekend.

And, eventually, those temperatures will start to climb to normal.

And, then, beyond next weekend, it looks as though

things could turn a little more unsettled.

But, in the short term, the week ahead, certainly a little

dose of winter across northern hills especially

and then that frost risk.

We have to wrap up warmly. That's it.