Temperatures rising, records to fall?

With virtually no sunshine in the last eleven days across parts of the North Midlands and the East, it's been particularly gloomy. This coupled with occasional rain or drizzle, misty and at times foggy conditions have added to the murk, but as winds freshen today much of the murk will clear. It'll remain unsettled though, but with increasingly mild even unseasonably mild conditions developing in the next few days.

We also continue to see large temperature differences between North and South. It was -7C first thing at Loch Glascarnoch and when compared with 12C across the Channel Islands, it gives us a huge range of 19C. By Thursday the thermometer could reach an unseasonably mild 16 or 17C across Norfolk and to the lee of high ground, the latter not far from an all time high for December. What a crazy climate!

Across Scotland and Northern Ireland you'll be wondering what 'all the fuss' is about, where you've generally seen the best of the sunshine over the past week or so. And it remains much the same here, with sunny spells and just a few showers wintry on hills fading through the day. Elsewhere it's a different story, with a swathe of locally heavy rain moving from West to East across northern and central parts of England and Wales this morning. This'll be followed by drier, brighter weather giving some sunshine, while the East remains dull and showery for much of the day.

Across South Wales and southern England you'll also see showers but here a South West or Westerly wind will be much fresher, with gales in the West and more especially across the Channel Islands. After an early frost over parts of Scotland temperatures reach 5 to 7C in the North, but milder 9 to 12C in the South.

After a breezy early evening in the South, much of the country sees a lull after dark. Skies break to give a few clear spells before another Atalntic system brings rain to the South West, that'll have spread to much of Wales, Northern Ireland, parts of the Midlands and central southern England by morning. There'll be a touch of frost over Scotland and parts of northern England overnight where temperatures fall close to freezing in places but further South, you shouldn't fall below 5 to 8C.

A spell of rain heavy in places 'sweeps' across the country on Wednesday. This'll quickly clear from Northern Ireland and the West, to leave sunny intervals and scattering of blustery showers. Most other parts see the rain clearing during the afternoon although over the North of Scotland after a chilly start, it'll probably be after dark before skies break. A somewhat blustery South East or southerly wind 'veers' South Westerly as the weather clears but remains quite fresh giving strong gusts in the West. You'll notice it much mider though with top temperatures getting as high as 12 to 14 locally 15C in the South, but only 6 to 7C across the North of Scotland. 

After dark damp, misty weather with rain, hill and coastal fog return to South Wales and the South, with North Wales and the Midlands also becoming overcast later in the night. Northern Ireland sees showers moving in as well, with a mix of clear intervals especially East of the Pennines and a few showers elsewhere. A South West wind should be lighter in the South in a mild night, when temperatures remain in double figures in the South.