Autumn is well and truly with us now, with low pressure in control of the weather this weekend.
Autumn has well and truly arrived now, which after the extended benign spell of weather through much of September, feels like a bit of a shock to the system.
This weekend sees low pressure well in control, with a parent low to the Northwest of the British Isles and a child low zipping up from the southwest. Combined, they'll bring some heavy rain across many parts, with gales in parts of southern England today (Saturday) and the far north of Scotland on Sunday.
The air pressure animation below shows the pattern, there's also Hurricane Sam out west in the Atlantic, which looks set to play a part of some sort in our weather next week.
Today, the rain is sweeping up from the southwest, some is going to be heavy and persistent, especially in the south and west. The winds will be at their strongest near to southern coasts - with gales likely this afternoon before they ease later this evening. Rain totals of 50mm or so aren't out of the question in parts of southern and especially southeastern England, with some other parts, particularly western facing hills seeing 25mm or more as well. That's enough to cause some disruption and localised flooding.
By Sunday, the vast majority of the persistent rain will have cleared. Although, some is likely to wrap around to affect the far north and particularly the northeast of Scotland - where, thanks to the proximity of low pressure high winds are likely as well.
Elsewhere, it'll be a day of sunny spells and blustery, sharp, thundery showers. They will be fairly well scattered though, so there's a reasonable shot of getting away with a dry day if you're in a sheltered location. Temperatures will peak at 9-14c across the northern half of the UK, 12-16c further south, the wind will knock the edge off of those values though.
The start of week will see no real respite from the Autumnal weather. Monday will bring another day of sunshine and showers, then later in the day and into Tuesday the next low will roll up, bringing a spell of rain and wind up from the southwest with it.
Watch Michael Fish's latest forecast for some more detail on the weather during the coming days.
