A chilly but mostly dry weekend. Cloudy skies with some isolated light showers becoming more extensive over northern and later western parts, falling wintry over hills. Best of the wintry sunshine across southern parts - where we will see hard frosts overnight.
High pressure will continue to be a dominant feature of the weather as we go through the weekend, so the weather will be fairly quiet but on the cold side. Although many will see a sunny start to the weekend, it will turn increasingly cloudy across more northern and western areas later today and through Sunday, thick enough for some light rain or a wintry mix over hills.
Many have woken to clear skies and a frost this morning, lowest UK temperature overnight of -8.1C at Farnborough to the SW of London, with locations on the south coast, such as Bournemouth dropping close to -7C. And as far north as Aboyne in Scotland we’ve seen the temperature fall to -6C overnight.
For many it will be a sunny and crisp morning after the frosty start, though there will be some localised mist and fog patches that could be slow to clear this morning. It will be cloudier across SW England, Yorkshire, East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Norfolk – so temperatures just above freezing to start the day here. These cloudier skies across eastern England tending to expand across the Midlands, northern England and southern Scotland through the day, thick enough to bring a few light showers, wintry over the hills. Otherwise, away from the far SW of England, it will remain bright or sunny.
A chilly day, temperatures reaching 3-5C at best, with frost remaining in the shade, perhaps a little milder across the far NW with 7C in Belfast and the Western Isles.
Then overnight, parts of the Midlands, northern England and southern Scotland keep cloudy skies and some patchy light rain or wintry mix over hills – which will prevent a frost. Clearer skies with a patchy hard frost developing elsewhere where skies clear - temperatures perhaps falling to -5 or -6C in the south, though thicker cloud and some light showers look to spread in across south Wales and SW England, wintry over the hills.
The best of the sunshine on Sunday across central southern and southeast England, The Midlands and East Anglia, after a frosty start here. Cloudier across SW England, Wales, northern England, N. Ireland and much of Scotland, with some light showers in places, falling wintry over higher ground. Coldest temperatures look likely to be across eastern Scotland and eastern England – reaching 3-5C at best. Elsewhere reaching 5-7C, perhaps 9C across the far SW of England.
As we head into early next week, slack anticyclonic flow still in control of our weather, so remaining mostly dry and on the chilly side but rather cloudy and locally foggy too – as more in the way of moisture gets trapped under the high pressure inversion.
Monday may see fog patches linger through much of the day across central and southern areas – which could bring delays at airports and hazardous conditions on the roads. Otherwise a lot of cloud around but also some sunny spells. Thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain arriving across the far northwest on Monday evening looks to spread southeast across northern areas on Tuesday, clearer towards SE England, with some brightness after a frosty start. Wednesday and Thursday looking cloudy across northern, central and western areas, with some patchy rain towards the northwest, as Atlantic fronts try to push in from the west. Mostly dry, bright or sunny towards southern England and East Anglia, with a risk of overnight frosts continuing here.