16/01/2018 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. A mild but miserable start to our Monday morning.

The front that brought the rain cleared by lunchtime, but behind it

a colder feel as north-westerly winds dragged in

cold air right across the country.

And it's going to stay with us at least for a few days,

so a colder story for many.

There will be some snow - not for all of us, but certainly much

windier, with gales or severe gales through the middle of the week.

And in fact, it's going to be a windy day on Tuesday.

You can see by the amount of isobars squeezed across the UK.

This little fella here will enhance the wintry

showers across north-west England, Northern Ireland and Scotland,

a mixture of rain, sleet and snow.

Accumulations are likely even at lower levels.

Really, through South Wales and south of the M4 corridor,

it's likely to be rain.

But it's a cold feel to the day, particularly when you

factor in the wind and particularly on those exposed north-west coasts.

Now, as we go through the overnight period,

it'll be a case of almost spot the difference.

There'll be plenty of showers, some of those turning wintry at lower

levels across the Peaks and Pennines, maybe the North midlands.

So it'll be a cold start to Wednesday morning,

but I suspect sheltered eastern areas may well see some

decent dry, sunny weather conditions.

And in comparison to the cloudy, grey story of late, that might

come as welcome news. Fewer showers, generally, on Wednesday.

Still wintry, though, the further north and west you come.

The change comes later on Wednesday into Thursday,

a really deep area of low pressure on the southern flank of that low.

We're likely to see gales or severe gales for a time,

and on the leading edge, across central and southern Scotland,

there's the potential for some snow.

So keep watching the weather forecast,

really, for the early hours of Thursday morning.

Severe gales and some snow across southern Scotland

could cause some disruption.

But the good news is that it's moving at quite a pace,

and it'll rattle through quite early on on Thursday, so for the

bulk of Thursday, not a bad day, with some sunshine coming through

and perhaps just a tad milder in the south-east for at least a time.

The wind direction's still coming from the north-west,

and still plenty of isobars on the chart through Friday,

so still a cold feel, particularly in any exposure.

And we're still likely to see a few enhanced showers with that

north-westerly flow across Northern Ireland and Western Scotland -

rain, sleet and snow not out of the question here.

But there will be some sunny spells. Temperatures will struggle, though,

two to six or seven degrees at the very best.

Now, as we move out of Friday into Saturday,

we see these weather fronts just drifting to the south of us

and this ridge of high pressure building, so things quietening down,

and the winds will be a little bit lighter as we move into the weekend.

So, some sunshine, four to eight degrees -

again, still not particularly warm - and overnight frosts could be

an issue, something that we've not seen of late.

So as we go into the weekend, a cold and quieter theme. Will it last?

Probably not. The high pressure is likely to slip off

into the near Continent,

allowing low pressures to move back in from the Atlantic.

And on top of that, it looks as though the jet stream is set to

intensify right across the UK, and that may well drive in low

pressures from the Atlantic and keep things pretty unsettled.

So, if we're looking further ahead,

the longer six-to-ten-day period, it does look as though it's

going to be a pretty unsettled story, windy with gales at times.

Temperatures pretty much where they should be for this time of year.

A lot to take in, I know.

I'll be back with you same time, same place tomorrow.