04/05/2017 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. Warm and sunny, cold or grey -

it's one or the other, not much in between

in the UK at the moment.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

have seen most of the warm and sunny -

this is the view from Wednesday

at Lowestoft in Suffolk,

and we saw the cold and grey here,

even a bit of rain in places into south-east England, as well.

You can see the cloud coming in,

and the temperature, we've noticed,

has barely budged along the coast of East Anglia

from the Tuesday night

right the way through until now.

In fact, the low on Tuesday night was 9 Celsius.

The high on Wednesday, round about 9 Celsius -

and the temperature of the sea water off the coast,

dip your toe in, 9 Celsius.

And look at this.

There is a breeze coming in off the sea.

It's a north-easterly breeze,

not a warm direction for us,

and look how much of the North Sea

this breeze is coming over

before hitting that coastline of East Anglia.

So, what we find is, the area is cooled

closer to that sea temperature of 9 degrees,

and that's why the temperature

only reaches around 9 degrees

underneath that cloud cover in the east.

Now, it's still a north-easterly breeze

to the west, but there's some separation

between Achnagart, here,

at 20 Celsius on Wednesday in north-west Scotland

and the North Sea,

and, of course, there's some sunshine

to warm the air -

strong sunshine at this time of year.

And those contrasts will continue

as long as this weather pattern does -

and it's got a lot of life left in it yet.

With high pressure to the north of us,

the flow of air coming around that,

over the North Sea,

that's pushing that cooler air

into the North Sea coast,

whereas, elsewhere, further west,

you get more warmth -

you get the best of the sunshine, too.

Similar picture, then, for Thursday -

and whilst many places are looking dry

in this flow of air,

there will be a few showers around towards southern England,

maybe some early ones into the Midlands

and, again, into East Anglia.

9, 10, 11 degrees, North Sea coast,

but into the high teens,

a few spots in the west.

Little change by Friday.

Still picking up a few showers

in that flow into East Anglia,

south-east England.

By the way, this is quite a brisk wind,

as well, quite gusty in places.

Now, there's something we'll keep on watching

into the start of the weekend -

this weather system just pushing up from the south,

which threatens to bring a bit of rain

to the Isles of Scilly, Southern counties in England,

the Channel Islands - but it's still not set in stone

just how far north this is going to get.

So, just keep it in mind,

but keep checking the forecast here.

Elsewhere, on Saturday, plenty of dry weather.

The wind easing a little bit through the day.

The wind is much lighter by the time we get to Sunday,

but this flow of air over the North Sea

is still, along this North Sea coast,

holding back - and will be again on Monday,

leaving the west and south-west of the UK

with the higher temperatures

and barely a breath of wind for some here,

and some lovely sunshine.

And this weather pattern looks to continue

well into next week.

So, we keep those contrasts between North Sea coast

and then the sunshine and to the west and south-west,

the higher temperatures,

where it will be rather warm.

Now, there are signs there may be a change, finally,

later next week,

because the high pressure

moves away, low pressure edges in.

If it settles to the south-west of us,

it'll be a mild flow, but increasingly unsettled

with, finally, some of us seeing some rain.

Low-pressure, though,

could settle to the north-west of the UK,

bringing a cooler flow into us here

and, again, unsettled,

with some outbreaks of rain showers around.

So, hints of a breakdown -

the timing very uncertain.

Maybe beyond the end of next week,

and just how that happens,

where the air is coming from,

a lot to play for.

Until then, as you were.

Warm and sunny, cold or grey.

Take your pick. Bye-bye.