The weather stays unsettled for now and will be turning colder too as winds swing into the northwest. After a showery start, the weekend will start to see some improvement with many parts staying dry on Sunday.
The weather is staying quite unsettled with bands of rain moving southeast today with colder air and showers following in behind them. But by the weekend, and particularly on Sunday, we should at least get a brief drier and sunnier break.
Today, the rain bands are working their way down through England and Wales, having cleared Scotland and the far north of England overnight. The rain is quite variable within them, so expect some heavier bursts, but in the main, it's relatively light and patchy. Behind the rain a northwest wind is setting in, bringing colder air and some showers with it. Most of those showers will be in the west, but some will work their way further east during the day. Like the rain bands, some of those showers will be on the heavy side, perhaps with some hail and thunder mixed in from time to time.
Temperatures today will peak early in the southeast, reaching up to 15-17c by lunchtime and ahead of the wetter weather, but it's downhill from there as the cooler weather seeps south. Parts of Scotland will struggle to get out of single figures, and some of those showers will turn wintry up over the higher ground of the Highlands too.
This evening and overnight, a more organised band of rain and showers will arrive into the northwest of Scotland, bringing more sleet and snow to the tops in the Highlands. That'll work its way steadily southeast, clearing Scotland by dawn and continuing through England and Wales during Friday. Behind that, there'll again be showers coming down from the northwest, and they're likely to be more widespread than they were today (Thursday). It'll be another cold feeling day for the time of year, with blustery northwest winds and maximum temperatures of 8-12c typically, although the far southeast will be more sheltered and milder at 12-15c.
Into Saturday, there'll be low pressure in the North Sea, continuing to feed northwest winds across the country, so it'll not be feeling especially warm anywhere.
To start with, the showers will still be quite widespread, maybe with one or two bands of them working their way from northwest to southeast. But with high pressure just nudging in closer from the west and the low easing further east by Sunday, they're likely to become more confined to the coasts with most inland regions staying dry with some long sunny spells. The wind should be a touch lighter inland on Sunday too, so although maxes of 9-14c don't sound too exciting, it should feel a bit warmer than recently. If you're planning a walk on the beach though, especially on the east coast, it'll most likely be quite bracing!
Main photo today - Sands of Forvie.