25/12/2017 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. Well, very mild out there.

For the last couple of weeks or so,

we have been forecasting a very mild Christmas.

Indeed, the temperatures are well above the average

for the time of the year

right across the country right now.

It'll remain like it throughout the big day itself.

So staying very mild across the UK.

The winds are streaming in from the southwest,

carrying rain-bearing clouds as well.

For some of us, additionally, it's very soggy.

But out towards the northwest of the Atlantic here,

the winds are changing direction.

The air coming in from the Arctic,

so there is that little bit of cold air

tucking in behind this mild plume of air.

That is a sign that, as we head

towards Boxing Day and the days after,

things are going to turn just that little bit colder.

But for Christmas Day itself,

it's very mild across England and Wales.

There's some rain on the way too.

Those temperatures will be double figures

right across England and Wales.

In the Lowlands of Scotland,

dipping down to 7 later in the day.

You can see in the far north of Scotland there,

4 or 5 degrees.

But a wet end to Christmas Day

for many of us across the UK.

It does look as though the rain

could even turn to snow,

at least for a time there across

the southern Uplands of Scotland,

perhaps the Highlands as well.

As we see slightly cold air

from the north tucking into this weather system,

so it could just about be the case

that on Christmas Day in the evening,

we will get a little bit of snow,

but mostly across the hills.

Boxing Day itself, still mild air across the UK,

but that colder air starting to push in into the UK.

We'll also see one weather front moving away,

another one coming in.

We're in between weather systems on Boxing Day itself.

Let's see what it looks like, then, in the morning.

There could be a little bit

of sleetiness around some of the northern areas,

but then a lot of sunshine around.

Could be quite frosty first thing in the morning.

You can see the temperatures are into single figures.

But very quickly, later on Boxing day,

we'll see another little area of low pressure

that's going to tuck in into the south here,

also mix in with the cold air.

On the northern edge of this area of rain,

across the hills of Wales,

maybe the Chilterns, the Cotswolds,

we could see a little bit of sleet or snow,

falling mostly, as I say, across the hills.

So a very damp if not wet start

also on Wednesday morning

across the southeast of the country.

Again, there could be a little bit

of sleetiness around,

as we see the cold air coming in from the north.

So Christmas itself is mild,

but then Boxing Day and Wednesday,

we start to see the colder air,

at least temporarily, coming in.

You can just about see a little bit of snow

there mixing in. At this stage,

we don't think it's a big deal.

For most of us, Wednesday afternoon

is going to be bright and pretty cold,

with temperatures of around 3 to say 6 or 7 degrees.

On Thursday, another weather front

perhaps affecting south-western areas,

but you can see then on Thursday

it's largely a dry day across the UK,

with a few showers in the north,

temperatures of around 3-5 degrees.

Then, come Friday,

those winds start to change direction again

and they come in from a south-westerly direction.

That means that, once more,

those temperatures will start to rise.

Next weekend, we're back into that mild air mass,

so back the wind comes from the far southwest.

But, again, a little bit of cold air tucking in behind.

The thinking is that New Year's Eve will see a low pressure approaching,

and into New Year's Day - this spells very wet,

very windy weather across the country.

So quite a stormy, potentially, period into 2018.

At the very least, it'll be unsettled

with certainly some wind on the way, gales possibly as well,

and perhaps a bit of snow

across northern hills as well.

That's it from me. Bye-bye.