31/01/2018 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. Sunday was only a few days ago but in the world of weather,

it's a long time ago because on Sunday,

some of us had 15 Celsius.

Those same parts closer to five Celsius

over the next few days. Now, already this week,

temperatures have taken a dip

but over the next 24 hours, they go down even further.

Proper cold air coming in on a strengthening wind

and more wintry showers towards Scotland

and Northern Ireland, with an icy start

for some of us here Wednesday morning

and those showers coming infrequently towards

western Scotland, Northern Ireland during the day

and some developing into north-west England and the Pennines.

Wintry showers, that means rain, sleet,

snow mainly on hills but not exclusively so.

Hail, maybe some rumbles of thunder too.

Southern parts of England and Wales start the day

with outbreaks of rain. They clear to sunshine

and a few showers and those are your temperatures

by the end of the afternoon, 3-7 Celsius,

feeling colder in the wind.

That wind stays with us on Wednesday night,

in fact for north-east Scotland and the Northern Isles,

close to low pressure, a spell of severe gales.

And going into Thursday, there is more of a northerly component

to the weather so it feels every bit as chilly on Thursday.

Still those wintry showers, Scotland and Northern Ireland,

fewer showers elsewhere

and even some of these showers tend to fade.

So, more in the way of dry, sunnier weather into the afternoon.

Then a widespread frost on Friday morning

as briefly high pressure builds in.

So a lot of fine, dry weather on Friday,

North Sea coastal showers

and then increasing cloud and outbreaks of rain

edging in towards parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland

by the end of Friday as this weather system comes in from the Atlantic.

Timed for the start of the weekend, running into cold air

which means some of us won't just get rain out of this

but a chance for sleet and snow on its leading edge,

particularly into parts of northern England and Scotland

and perhaps not just on hills, so we'll keep an eye on that.

And the wet weather never properly clearing away

from parts of eastern England. And going into Sunday,

close to this area of low pressure that forms along the weather front,

central and eastern parts of England,

cloudy, cold, damp and maybe not just with rain

but a chance for a bit of sleet and snow for a time here as well.

So we'll keep an eye on that.

North and west of the UK,

pressure building so fairer skies here

and some sunshine, a drier picture for Sunday.

Now, as we start next week, it is high pressure,

frosty start to the week but then we get another weather system

poised to come in from the Atlantic, followed by high pressure again,

followed by another weather system.

So it is looking changeable into the start of next week.

But further ahead, end of next week

and the following week,

if you were watching the last Weather For The Week Ahead,

we said there's a chance high pressure will build in

from Scandinavia with a very cold

easterly wind coming with it.

This is now looking less likely,

not out of the question, less likely.

More likely, looking further ahead,

it's the Azores high pressure that'll be influential,

that means coming in from the south-west of the UK

with a chilly north-westerly flow.

But with this scenario,

the high pressure we think will occasionally drift south again,

allowing low pressure to come across it from the Atlantic

and into the UK, turning things perhaps a little less cold

but with a spell of wind and rain.

So, actually, the more likely picture for the end of next week

and beyond is the continuation of the current set-up.

High pressure, low pressure, high pressure, low pressure.

With high pressure, it is colder,

it's drier, though there could well be some wintry showers.

With low pressure coming in, it's a little less cold

with spells of wind and rain

but perhaps some snow, particularly to northern hills.

So, still looking further ahead, some variety in our weather

but not the extreme variety and temperatures

we've had in the past week.

That's the latest weather for the week ahead.