Friday evening looks ideal for any Fireworks displays. Wind and rain will sweep in on Saturday, clearing many parts of the UK but not southern England for Bonfire Night.
Friday night should be an ideal bonfire and fireworks evening, with light winds, a nip in the air and atmospheric-looking mist and fog patches. Saturday will see blustery rain sweeping across the UK. This will still be pestering southern England and East Anglia in the evening. The rain will take its time to clear from SE Britain, even on Sunday. The rest of the country will see brighter skies but also hefty showers which continue to feed in from the Atlantic for the rest of the weekend.
Finding a Fireworks display seems tricky this year, with not quite as many taking place. Both fireworks and bonfires can affect the air quality in more built-up areas. The recent blustery mobile Atlantic flow has brought clearer air across the UK but there will be a lull on Friday evening in the ridging before Saturday’s rain band. Hence the lighter winds, clear skies (for a time) and the dipping temperatures.
DEFRA forecast ‘Air pollution is expected to continue to stay Low for much of the country on Saturday with breezier conditions forecast, but Pollution levels could locally be higher than the levels shown due to bonfire celebrations and light winds.’
In previous years when the background synoptic pattern included settled weather and high pressure, the air pollution levels shot up around Bonfire Night. This example was from 2019.
There will be a few lingering light showers for North Wales, Lancashire and around Cardigan Bay and the Solway Firth on Friday evening. Also, a scattering for the far north of Scotland. Otherwise, it will be a fine, clear evening with hardly any breeze although high cloud will spread over Northern Ireland and stop the temperatures falling away too much. For eastern Britain where the clear skies last longest overnight, there will be mist and fog patches forming but things will soon change during Saturday morning.
The band of rain from the west will soon be across Northern Ireland and there will be a fine, bright day here. The spell of wet and windy weather should be through before dawn. The rain and blustery winds move across Britain through the day but East Anglia, London and SE England won’t see too much rain, just increasing cloud. As the back edge of the frontal band reaches NW England, Wales and SW England during the afternoon there will be some heavy bursts of rain over the high ground.
There will be mild air caught up in this frontal system lifting the temperatures into double figures by day, even up to 14 or 15C for SW Britain. This mild air will still be around for Saturday evening over the south-eastern half of Britain and lasts for south-eastern England through the night. Elsewhere colder air will sink southwards through Saturday night with clearer air and a bit of fog for inland northern England.
The showery rain over southern counties of England could be a problem for any displays on Saturday evening. It will be worth keeping an eye on the Netweather Radar to see how the clusters of showers are working their way from Dorset across to Kent.
This links to the frontal band still crossing the UK which could wave during the night and bring more wet weather to SE Britain on Sunday morning. Embedded within this will be heavy downpours and the showers moving in from the west will include thundery bursts too.
The SW winds pick during the day and whilst SE Britain will still be mild, much of the UK will see temperatures around average so 11 or 12C. Remember the Firework Code.
Thanks to I.Scrimegour for fireworks photos
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