05/08/2017 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello, there. You certainly couldn't describe the weather we've had

over the last week as any sort of heat wave,

and I have to say, it doesn't look like

we're going to see a heat wave in the week ahead, either.

That is in stark contrast

to the conditions they've had

across southern Europe -

from the Balkans through Italy,

westwards to Iberia.

Once again, Friday brought

temperatures up into the 40s -

very close to 45 degrees

in southern Spain.

Southern Europe, here,

is on the warm side of the jet stream,

warm air just wafting its way up

from the south, while we are on

the northern side of the jet stream,

the cool side of the jet stream,

and that is where we're going to stay

as we go on through this weekend,

and with the jet stream blowing

across the Atlantic,

it will continue to bring weather systems,

bands of rain, in our direction.

The rain on Saturday will come

in the form of showers,

but some really quite heavy showers

across central and southern portions

of the British Isles,

with some rumbles of thunder,

flashes of lightning,

some hail thrown in for good measure,

some sunny breaks in between -

not as many showers further north,

but some of these

could still be on the heavy side,

and those temperatures,

16 to 21 degrees at best,

and those temperatures will drop away

during Saturday night.

In fact, some of us could start Sunday morning

in single digits -

but, with this little bump in the isobars,

a ridge of high pressure,

Sunday actually isn't a bad looking day.

Should be largely dry

with some spells of sunshine,

clouding over from the west later on,

with some rain into Northern Ireland,

Western Scotland, north-west England

and West Wales.

The rain courtesy of a weather front -

indeed, a set of weather fronts,

which will be working southwards and eastwards

across the country during Monday,

and on this cold front, here,

we could see some really quite heavy rain

for a time.

The rain likely to break up into showers,

but some of those could be big downpours

with some rumbles of thunder

and some gusty winds, as well -

and those temperatures still on the low side

for the time of year, 16-20 degrees.

This frontal system becomes quite slow-moving,

we suspect, as we go through Monday night

into Tuesday. Still hanging around

in south-eastern areas on Tuesday,

with the potential to bring some spells of rain,

perhaps some thundery showers,

and even as things brighten up to the north-west,

there will be some showers that time.

Temperatures 15-20 degrees.

For the middle of next week,

we are essentially marooned

between low-pressure

still spinning around to the east,

high-pressure trying, but not quite succeeding,

to building in from the west,

and that leaves us

with a north or north-westerly wind -

never a warm wind direction -

yes, some sunshine, some showers, as well,

these most likely towards the south-east.

So, what's going on?

Well, for the middle of next week,

we are still in this dip in the jet stream,

and still on the cool side of the jet stream,

with an area of low pressure -

but, out in the Atlantic,

the jet stream blows northwards.

We get a ridge in the jet stream,

and contained in this ridge,

we will have an area of high pressure.

Now, we've been talking about this

over the last few days,

trying to build this area of high pressure

in across the country. Some question marks

about just how much influence it will have

on our weather, but, by the end of next week,

it does look like southern areas

are likely to feel the effects

of high-pressure -

that means more in the way of dry weather,

some sunshine,

but the high is unlikely

to get all the way northwards across the country.

Northern areas

still experiencing areas of low pressure,

which will bring some cloud

and some rain at times.

So, into next weekend,

it does look like southern areas will be driest,

with some rain in the north,

and certainly no heat wave.

Definitely not on the scale

of what we've been seeing

across southern Europe.