08/08/2017 Weather for the Week Ahead

We're going to take a look at the weather prospects

for the whole of the British Isles for the next few days

in just a second, but first of all

I just want to bring you right up to date with where we are

with regard to the heat across the southern parts of Europe

because Monday saw very little change in the overall pattern.

Many of the temperatures that I'm showing you here are still

some 5-7 or 8 degrees above what we would expect at the time of year,

and part of the reason that that heat wave has been

so persistent is that the jet stream hasn't been able to

bring in from the Atlantic cooler, fresher conditions.

Whenever you get to see that sort of dip in the jet stream,

you can very comfortably, at the surface, rather than in

the upper atmosphere, fit in quite a vigorous area of low pressure.

And there it sits close by on the near continent.

And we'll certainly see some of the effects of that particular system

in the south-eastern quarter as the day goes on.

Some really quite heavy pulses of rain in there,

maybe the odd rumble of thunder, and Monday's weather front,

which we thought was just going to peter out

across the southern counties, will gradually be pushed

ever further north across the greater part of England and Wales,

cloud and rain here putting a bit of a dampener on things

and a dent in the temperatures, too.

The best of the conditions perhaps Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Now, that area of low pressure is on the move and rather unusually,

it moves from south to north during the course of Wednesday.

But it leaves behind a legacy of a trailing

and really quite active weather front, so again some heavy

pulses of rain here through East Anglia and the south-east.

The best of the conditions - Scotland, Northern Ireland,

northern and western parts of both England and Wales.

And for that, you have to thank this area of high pressure

trying to be the dominant feature on Thursday,

but you'll notice it's sandwiched in between those areas of low pressure,

so it's a bit of a battle.

We have to get rid of that rain first of all before it

brightens up in the east and then cherish the rest of Thursday,

because, as I say, it's a battle

which I'm afraid that area of high pressure loses out to

this new area of low pressure up by Iceland. Its trailing weather front,

and quite compacted isobars too, bring a combination of wet and windy

weather initially into Scotland and Northern Ireland and then

gradually pushing it ever further south during the course of Friday.

And those temperatures really nothing to write home about at all.

And the breeze will be quite a considerable factor

on the day as well.

Even as I take you out of Friday on into Saturday, we still have

weather fronts associated with that low

draped down across the British Isles.

Not a write-off, not a really messy start to the weekend -

it will be a mixture again of sunny spells and showers,

the breeze rather noticeable there across the greater part of Scotland.

Similar sort of fare on into Sunday

and as we take you into the start of the new week,

we've got essentially low pressure north of the jet stream,

high pressure to the south of the jet stream,

and that enables us to stay in this flow of west to south-westerly winds

right across the British Isles,

giving us what we call a mobile pattern of weather.

So, the high pressure, not a million miles away

from the south - it's not all doom and gloom,

but it's not doing enough to keep the low pressures closer to Iceland

from the northern half of the British Isles

and at times we will have these spells of wet and windy weather

moving on across particularly the northern half of the country.

So, the driest of the conditions, thanks to that area

of high pressure, will be found in the south,

while the wetter and windier conditions

will be found in the north,

and I'm afraid for a heat wave you'll have to move down

towards the southern parts of Europe. Bye-bye.