Colder air is feeding down from the Arctic with blustery winds, bands of rain or showers which will turn wintry. Snow for the hills of Britain and Ireland and a risk of frost, so gardeners beware.
It’s lighter, there are daffodils and blossom and it has even felt warm in the sunshine over the past few days. Hoorah for spring! However, don’t get carried away. The UK weather likes to keep us all on our toes and if you were thinking about “just putting a few bits of winter clothing away now”, then don’t.
The week ahead looks windy, wet even wintry at times and will feel much colder. It maybe the spring equinox today (equal day/night length) but there is going to be quite a chill over the next few days.
Today
This morning starts off on a mild note for much of England, Wales and SE Scotland around 9 to 11C. The main band of rain stretching from Aberdeenshire down through the Irish Sea is a cold front. Behind this, temperatures are already lower with much of N.Ireland and Scotland starting the day at 5 or 6C and it’s very windy. An area of low pressure is just squeezing past bringing gales and severe gales to the far north of Scotland and making it windy elsewhere. So, it feels chilly
Temperatures today will peak at 7 or 8C for Northern Ireland and Scotland, 8 to 10C for northern England and Wales. 10 to 13 or 14C for the rest of southern Britain. There will be a brisk west wind here too so a blustery day with rain on the way.
The main frontal rain will move across northern England, Wales and SW England this morning. Wales and NW England will have a miserable Monday morning until the front clears. There is already a lot of water lying for the Lake District and the North Pennines after recent rains. The Pennines are doing a fair job of protecting NE England from the worst of the rain, with some breaks appearing in the cloud in this westerly wind. Ahead of that, SE Britain will be cloudy and increasingly damp. The rain will nudge SE ‘wards into the Midlands and East Anglia by lunchtime and then to London by mid-afternoon. Behind the front, clear skies and sunny spells appear with a nip in the air.
The brighter skies will bring sharp showers, mainly for western areas, whizzing along on the breeze. These will be as rain by day (wintry over Scottish hills) but turning to sleet, hail and hill snow this evening across Ireland, Wales and northern Britain. It will then turn cold overnight with the risk of frost away from SE England.
Trough lines will bring heavier showers from the NW as Tuesday begins. There will be more hail, thunder, rain, sleet even a thin covering of snow to lowers levels in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. There will be several cms of snow for the hills, extending over the W.Pennines, Fells, Dales and Peaks also for Welsh hills and mountains. Dartmoor and Exmoor could also see snow as more showers push in from the west. Elsewhere, there will be bright spells and rain showers coming and going with wet snow appearing at times but not settling.
Tomorrow night
Tuesday night sees windier conditions head into SW Britain with heavier rain, hill snow and strong gusty winds. This could push a band of rain up through northern England and bring snow to the hills Elsewhere, the winds ease off and it will be a cold night. Inland Scotland down around -12C. A widespread frost and ice risk
Wednesday sees the low swirling over the UK with blustery rain in the east, a colder wintry mix from the north and west and a bitter north wind. Central southern England could see some fair bright weather up to 10C as all this goes on around about.
The rest of the week becomes more settled. There will be rain for some on Thursday and Friday with blustery winds but pressure is rising. This high will bring lighter winds, drier conditions, still the risk of frost by night but, at the moment, next weekend looks much better and back to that fine spring weather, ready for Mothers’ Day.
