A hint of Spring this weekend as high pressure heads our way

There will be plenty of fine, bright weather around this weekend. There will be long spells with very light winds although not for the whole weekend. Saturday will be mild with temperatures in double figures and then it turns chilly overnight with patchy frost. After the nippy start on Sunday, temperatures will reach 8 or 9C for most. With the sunshine and light winds, the day will feel fine, for early February.

A large area of high pressure is building over western Europe. This will bring a lot of settled and dry weather over the next few days and for most through the weekend. There will be lighter winds although Atlantic weather fronts will manage to crash in from the northwest. Thursday sees heavy and persistent rain for NW and western Scotland with the risk of flooding and a cold front will bring more cloud and more patchy western rain for Saturday. Many places will remain dry as the high pressure steadies the UK weather and also across France and Iberia.

The high pressure will be centred right over the UK on Sunday. This means light winds for most but more of a northerly breeze clipping East Anglia and Kent and a southerly wind around the other side of the high for the Western Isles. Into next week the various weather models diverge, where the high pressure shifts to next? Extending over central Europe on the ECM model with some wild, wet weather in the Mediterranean. Or the GFS, which has been causing excitement for cold lovers. On this, as high pressure extends up over Scandinavia, a pull of cold air wraps around the base of the High by the 8th. There is only a small probability of this happening so if you are looking for snow in the southeast, hold your horses.

Snow doesn't feature much in this weekend's forecast. The cold front will bring some snow to the NW Highlands and the following showers will be a mix of rain, sleet, hail and hill snow for areas exposed to the NE wind. Saturday night and Sunday night look chilly. Friday night looks mild as the UK will be within a warm sector. There will be plenty of low cloud and light winds for southern Britain and a moderate south-westerly further north. Western counties could feel damp at times whereas eastern Britain might see s few breaks in the cloud allowing the overnight temperatures to dip away a bit further,

On Saturday we see the main cold front move down from the northwest. There will be more rain for Highland and the Western Isles after a wet few days. It won’t be as heavy but SEPA, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency does have Flood Alerts out already. Ahead of the front, there will still be a lot of cloud over Wales, the Midlands and southern England with patchy light rain for western upslopes. With a bit more of a breeze over northern Britain, there will be breaks in the cloud and sunny spells to the lee of high ground, until the fading front arrives. Northern Ireland, Cumbria, and northern & western Scotland will all see rain during the day although timings vary. The GFS slows the rain down on Saturday, barely reaching western Scotland by dusk, the Met Office has the rain moving over northern parts of the UK by Saturday lunchtime.

The front will be fading, there will be clearer skies behind and temperatures dip away in the colder air. There will be a chilly NW wind for a time behind the front and low cloud will cloak northern Scotland on Sunday, reaching more of western Britain and Northern Irlen ad to end the weekend. For most, Sunday will be a fine, sunny day with light winds and a hint of spring.