It’s Cheltenham week with racing taking place over four days. There will be a bit of rain but the weather will settle down at the end of this week. This culmination of the winter jump season will see a full return to opening for spectators over a quarter of a million people expected to attend in all. The highlight on Friday is the Gold Cup. Thursday is St Patrick's Day which could be extra messy and Wednesday is Ladies Day. Fingers crossed the early rain that day has cleared before the hats and outfits go on show.
Prestbury Park is the Cheltenham racecourse venue. Organisers, the Jockey Club announced record ticket sales this year for the festival with the fastest ever general admissions sell out for Gold Cup Day This was before the end of January for the first time ever, so no weather or even COVID guarantees then.
The going on Monday was Good to Soft, soft in places As the wind dropped out around dawn on Monday temperatures dipped to 1C with mist in the air but bright sunshine
It has been fine on Monday, dry and sunny with only a light breeze.
Tuesday, the Opening Day- Champion Day
Fine and mild with a few sunny spells around lunchtime. However, the cloud will increase and with a light southerly breeze, it won’t feel as pleasant without the sunshine. Temperature 13C
Click the image above for uptodate Rain radar
Wednesday , Ladies Day with the Queen Mother Champion Chase
There will be rain on Wednesday and it will feel cooler as the wind swings around to the north. There is some uncertainty in this part of the forecast with a weather front and showers edging together but hopefully fading by the afternoon. The frontal rainband is moving down from the NW and it is behind this that there is colder air. It looks to fade before reaching Gloucestershire. Ahead of this band it will be mild and cloudy but with clusters of showers, some heavy, working their way across England. So worth keeping an eye on the Netweather Radar if you standing outside or moving about the course. In terms of rainfall amounts from this, that is tricky. A couple of mms are showing but if the rainband merges with the hefty showers coming up from the south, the whole lot could invigorate and there will be heavier rain. This looks unlikely for Cheltenham at the moment, more likely further east over England but just the one part of the forecast to keep an eye on. A cool breeze but hopefully any showery rain will clear mid-afternoon Temperature 10C. If the sunshine appears, could reach 12C.
More settled with sunshine and light winds for the second half of the festival as high pressure builds over the UK. Temperatures will be up a bit and the sun is getting stronger at this time of year.
Thursday, St Patricks Day - Sunny, dry and fine. Light southwest breeze and temperature 12C
Friday, the pinnacle of jump racing with the feature race – the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Fine and sunny with a light east wind. Temperatures up to 14C with strong sunshine.
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