19/03/2018 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello. We've had some disruptive

snowfall through the weekend.

It has been treacherous

out and about

Significant snowfall as well,

10 to 15 centimetres in part.

This was Llandrindod Wells

on Sunday morning.

We had a lot of snow

in Doncaster as well.

This picture was sent in by our

weather watcher here.

And even in low-lying southern

areas, such as Bristol,

we had a covering of snow and indeed

of course there were amber warnings

across many parts in he south,

the west and Wales during Sunday.

Now, as we get into Monday,

it's still cold to start with

because we've still got that

Siberian easterly wind

dominating in he south but the

winds are starting to ease

in he north and we're starting to

see the Atlantic mild air

get a little closer to our shores.

So it will start cold

but largely dry this week.

However, it will be very icy first

thing

and then we've got the milder air

that will gradually lift

the temperatures coming in as we go

through towards midweek.

So Monday still has the risk of some

snow flurries in he south

but particularly he south and West,

the Channel Islands as well.

For many, though, it's a drier day,

brighter, not as cold.

I won't say warm yet.

Four or five degrees and we've still

got that wind in he south,

so there's still a wind chill here.

It's not so noticeable in he north

because in he north,

we're closer to this area of high

pressure,

which is keeping, or maintaining,

drier conditions here.

And that slips southward, it allows

a northerly wind in for Tuesday.

Again, a northerly wind from the

Arctic isn't a particularly warm

wind direction at this time of year.

However, we're cutting off that

bitter Siberian air.

It will start icy and there could

still be a few showers

coming into eastern areas

and one or two bits of cloud

and drizzle into the north and west.

But with 7 to 9,

temperatures are slowly recovering.

There will be a snowmelt as well,

possibly rain midweek,

so we'll have to keep an eye on

river levels.

But by midweek we certainly are

dominated

by this south-westerly wind across

most of the country.

That high pressure sitting across

he south will maintain

a lot of dry and settled weather

here.

There could be some murkiness

around in the morning.

But again, the rain is mostly

for the Highlands and the islands

on Wednesday, temperatures

elsewhere are slowly recovering.

We're seeing double figures.

And we should see that again

through Thursday and Friday

because you've got this wedge now of

mild Atlantic air

from those south-westerly winds,

our prevailing wind direction

dominating.

But of course with the prevailing

wind, the south-westerly,

often we have rain and low pressure.

And that's what we have on Thursday.

So for more of us there'll be rain,

some heavy rain,

some stronger winds driving it

eastwards

but again it will take much

of the day to reach eastern areas.

But by then we might have 12 or 13

degrees.

That's still with us across southern

and eastern areas

through Thursday night into Friday,

clearing out of the way

and then we've got this huge area of

low pressure

dominating western Europe.

So you can imagine there'll be

further areas of low pressure,

weather fronts sent our way.

So Friday looks fairly disturbed.

There'll be some gusty winds near

the showery rain

as it moves eastwards.

It's difficult at this stage to put

the finite detail on

but of course we'll keep you posted

through the week

for the time of year.

As that low slips away southwards,

we do allow a northerly wind

to come in for a time, so it could

be an element of winteriness

over the hills, some frost by night.

But most of the low pressure is

then towards the second half

of the week into the weekend and

early the following week

are driven to the north by our jet

stream,

that's the fast-moving air in the

upper atmosphere that drives the low

pressures in off the Atlantic,

driving them towards northern areas.

So always it looks as if southern

parts will see less rain

with high pressure around but there

will be some cooler interludes

as we move through the weekend and

into the beginning of next week.

Bye-bye for now.