22/05/2017 Weather for the Week Ahead

There's a bank holiday weekend on the horizon

and I'm sure of you are hoping, fingers crossed,

that the weather isn't quite

like what we've seen during the past week.

Nature's done its bit to readdress

the rainfall deficit so far this spring.

The likes of Northolt and Skegness last week

saw well over a month's worth of rain

fall in the space of seven days.

Not quite as much in Edinburgh,

but this was still six times more

than you saw through the whole of the month of April

so there's a bit of welcome news,

I suppose, to those eyeing up the bank holiday weekend

that much of this week will be not only a good deal drier,

but increasingly warm compared with the week just gone.

We start the week with high pressure

to the east of us, low pressure to the west

so that's bringing some of the warmth

on southerly winds,

but this weather front out towards Ireland

causing a complication to a certain extent

with a bit of rain around to start Monday,

spreading into western parts of Scotland.

A few heavier bursts, but not as wet

as it was for some of you on Sunday.

Much of the country dry,

better sunshine in the morning.

Sunshine turns hazy

for some into the afternoon,

but temperatures start to build.

OK, still in the low teens

across the northern half of the country.

Much of England and Wales, though, widely into the 20s,

maybe even the mid 20s in the south-east corner.

That leaves us with a fine end to the day

for the southern half of the UK.

There will be some rain, though,

pushing from west to east

as we go into Monday evening across Scotland,

but that clears out into the North Sea to Tuesday

and from Tuesday,

we start to see high pressure build to the south.

The air's coming off the Atlantic.

It won't be quite as warm

as the air we saw on Monday.

With it, lots of low cloud

around some western coasts and hills.

There could be the odd spot of light rain or drizzle,

but predominantly dry,

best of the sunshine in the east

and even though temperatures are down on Monday,

it will still feel warm in that ever-strengthening sun.

The high pressure builds further

from the south into Wednesday.

Still a bit of a flow off the Atlantic

so varying amounts of cloud around across the UK.

Cloudiest is probably western Scotland,

Northern Ireland,

threat of some spots of rain or drizzle.

Lot of dry weather round, morning cloud breaks up,

good sunny spells,

temperatures back on the rise -

even more of you seeing temperatures

into the 20s by this stage.

And as that high pressure sits in place into Thursday,

the air just warms up in situ.

We will see morning mist and fog

once more to start the day here and there,

but predominantly a dry day.

Very little rain around on Thursday

and some long sunny spells.

Temperatures above where they should be

for the time of year for all,

back into the mid 20s across some southern parts

and as high pressure then becomes established

like it did to the start of the week,

to the east of the UK for Friday,

we've got more of a south to south-easterly flow,

bringing up even warmer air from the near continent

to see us out from the week.

Now, Friday does look to promise

quite a lot of dry and sunny weather,

keeping weather fronts off towards the west.

Warmest conditions south-east

and maybe parts of north-west England, north Wales -

could hit 26 or 27 Celsius.

Notch that up a degree or so as we go into Saturday

with lots of dry, sunny weather.

Maybe a bit of a cool breeze

for some across the east of Scotland,

north-east England,

but 27, 28 certainly possible by this time.

So we go into the bank holiday weekend

with a lot of warmth around. Will it last?

This is how we start the weekend.

High pressure just to the east of us,

dragging up those south-easterly winds.

We have to watch this low pressure system

down to the south-west.

This has the potential for some showers,

maybe the odd thunderstorm for a time,

as it looks like it will push its way northwards

before we see high pressure

build back in again from the west.

The biggest problem is how quickly

that whole process takes place

so day to day detail,

very uncertain at the moment.

What we will say, we'll all see a bit of heat,

a bit of sunshine as well,

but there will be that slightly cooler spell

with a chance of showers, not everywhere,

at some point through the weekend

before things turn drier for next week, too.

Bye for now.