08/02/2018 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. The frost on Wednesday night a lot more limited compared

to what we had the previous night, so not quite as chilly for many

into Thursday and the reason lies with the position

of the jet stream. We've mentioned it all week.

It stretches across the Atlantic.

It's pretty strong at the moment and it's coming out at North America.

It's important because it separates cold air to the north

and warmer air to the south -

the blues and the orange colours on there.

Now little ripples of that will send slightly milder air our way

at times and one little ripple is

heading our way for Thursday.

Now it's a weather front on that ripple

which will bring cloud across

parts of northern England, Wales,

north-west Midlands

and the south-west throughout the day,

a threat of some rain or

drizzle in the morning,

but something heavier to end the day.

So north of it, Scotland, Northern Ireland,

we've still got milder air compared to what

we're used to but a few wintry flurries possible

in the far north-west.

Sunny spells in between

and the south-east after a chilly start,

because the cloud builds and the breeze picks up,

It's not going to warm up in any great hurry.

But by the end of Thursday and into Thursday evening,

some heavier rain pushes in from the west

and that will work its way eastwards.

The cold front which is barely a feature

as we start Thursday becomes

more of a one through the night into Friday.

It'll start to clear, opens the door to north-westerly winds

and taps back in to that pool

of cold air I showed you earlier on.

It turns chillier on Friday,

early rain across East Anglia

and the south-east clears, sunny spells.

Showers in the morning,

mixture of rain, hail, sleet and snow,

turning primarily to snow

later on, across Western Scotland,

Northern Ireland, giving a covering in places,

but some sunshine in between

and more sunshine than showers

through the second part of the day through many areas,

but temperatures back into single figures

and dropping away later on across the south.

That leads us into a cold night.

The cold air is back in its place but another ripple in the jet stream

sends another finger of something milder towards us.

It's going to take all day for this weather front

to come in on Saturday fully

and on the forward edge, of course,

we've got that cold air in place.

Quite a bit of snowfall on the hills of Scotland

as this Atlantic weather front pushes its way in,

maybe too in the northern Pennines,

north of the Welsh hills,

but it turns back to rain

as south-westerly winds dominate.

Most places will see rain during the day

on Saturday, East Anglia

and the south-east may stay dry

until we get into the evening,

bright conditions across the north later on,

but temperatures up to 10 degrees in one or two spots,

thanks to that south-westerly flow.

That, then, is pushed off

into the near continent through Sunday night.

There's a potential on our weather fronts for quite a nasty area

of low pressure to develop, so one to watch some Saturday night,

we could see gales,

or severe gales, to talk us into Sunday

and quite a bit of snowfall

across the Scottish mountains

before we go back into the cold north-westerly winds.

Sleet and snow flurries possible just about anywhere

across the country thanks to the strength of the wind,

most frequently in the north and west

and the snow really accumulating

on the Scottish mountains and the Irish hills.

But temperatures dropping again once more.

So a cold night follows Sunday night into Monday. The breeze will stop

the temperatures from dropping too much but still a frost

and some ice around into the new working week

and of course half-term for some of you.

It'll be a half-term to keep the woollens handy

because still some wintry showers

in the west to begin with.

Best of sunshine in the east on Monday,

but as the south-westerly winds come in later,

some of the snow will turn back to rain and sleet

and temperatures will slowly creep up later.

So, into next week, then, we've still got that jet stream rushing

out of North America, but notice we've got this bigger dip

starting to form in it and when we get a big dip like that, we get

an area of low pressure which becomes stubbornly sat and it

sits next week to the north of the Atlantic

and it will have an influence.

Now, we could see weather fronts run around it,

even smaller areas of low pressure at times.

We're always on the colder side, so, overall,

next week, it will stay cold,

some milder and wetter spells and pretty windy at times too.

Take care.