18/02/2018 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. There's a bit of a battle going on,

between milder air in the Atlantic and something colder further east.

Over the next few days,

it looks like it's the milder air

that's going to win through.

Shown here with the yellow colours,

gradually extending their way across the UK.

They don't hang around for very long

because, through next week, these bluer colours -

the colder air further east -

start the push their way back westwards.

More on that in just a moment. Back to the here and now.

For many, Saturday was a sunny one.

A few exceptions - we had more cloud around

across northern and central parts of England,

some showery rain for a time - that's started to fade.

and then a different sort of day tomorrow.

We have this warm front pushing its way towards the UK.

As its name implies, behind it is some milder air.

But not at first tomorrow - a cold, frosty start.

We hang onto the dry, bright weather

for much of the day across eastern areas,

but cloud will be increasing from the west all the time,

and that will bring some outbreaks of rain

into Northern Ireland, western Scotland,

north-western England, the north of Wales and south-west England.

Highs tomorrow, 7 to 11 Celsius -

for some, feeling milder than it has done recently.

Now, that front makes slow progress eastwards through tomorrow evening.

So, eventually, all of us will see some outbreaks of rain.

Doesn't go very far on Monday,

and grinds to a halt across eastern areas.

It will keep a lot of cloud across the country on Monday.

There'll be some mist and fog and murky conditions

with further outbreaks of rain,

which are likely to linger for a time

across East Anglia and south-east England.

But a mild start to the week - highs of 11 or 12 Celsius,

even across parts of Scotland. Much milder than recently.

The best of any brighter weather will be further west.

Now, these fronts are not going to go anywhere fast

as we go into Tuesday,

cos we've got areas of high pressure on both sides.

So, once again, it stalls on Tuesday.

Still keeping a lot of cloud

with some outbreaks of rain across England and Wales.

Drier and brighter with the best of the sunshine

across Northern Ireland and Scotland.

But temperatures starting to come down,

particularly for eastern counties.

Still just about holding on to something milder further west.

We do start to see those easterly winds

starting to develop as we go through Wednesday.

And you see this area of high pressure?

That's going to keep things mainly dry and settled across the country.

Any fronts will have fizzled out by that stage.

So there'll be some cloud around on Wednesday,

but generally a quiet day and, after a cold, frosty start,

we'll see some spells of sunshine,

but temperatures are going to struggle to recover -

five to seven Celsius quite typically on Wednesday.

So we are back into the cold air.

As we go ahead into Thursday,

again, much of the country dry with some sunshine.

A cold, frosty start.

This band of rain could just start to affect

north-western parts of Scotland,

and maybe Northern Ireland later in the day on Thursday.

But, again, it's this battle

between the colder air further east

and something milder further west.

And, certainly for the end of the week,

it looks like that colder air is going to win through.

Still some discussion amongst the models

as to exactly where this area of high pressure across Scandinavia

is going to be, and just how cold it could get.

But it certainly looks like daytime temperatures

are not going to get much above six or seven Celsius

for the end of the week, and we're still dry and settled.

And although milder air is never too far away,

it does look likely that this colder air,

with those easterly winds,

are going to continue to affect the country.

So what does that mean further ahead?

Well, perhaps just milder for a time,

particularly for Scotland and Northern Ireland,

but we're going to hang on to those easterly winds for most,

and it will be turning much colder.

That's all from me.

Phil Avery will have the forecasts for you tomorrow. Bye-bye.