Forget predictable spring weather, it's Mad March! This month lives up to its name with a mix of sunshine, showers, frost, and even snow. The reason? A clash of complex weather systems is bringing a bout of changeable conditions to the UK.
The new month is sometimes called 'Mad March' because it's associated with the 'Mad Hatters Tea Party' as depicted in Alice in Wonderland. It's based on the unusual habits of hares that tend to fight rather like a couple of boxers around this time of year. And this strange behaviour has now been adapted to describe the weather, particularly in early March, which tends to be crazy, changeable and often rather cold.
This certainly applies currently, as a combination of complex low pressure and trapped 'unstable' air of polar origin continues to give a real mixed bag of weather. As a result, in the past few days we've had everything from hail and thunder, to sleet, snow, frost, fog and ice, much as we have to greet us this morning.
It's been a frosty start across particularly the southern half of England and Wales, with the thermometer down to -4C first thing at Benson and Bournemouth Airport. We also have patchy fog, but both the frost and fog will clear, leaving most with a day of sunny intervals and scattered showers. We already have a few in the South West, across the Channel Islands, Northern Ireland, the North West and over Scotland, but over the bulk of England and Wales there'll be fewer showers today affording a better chance of it staying dry. The exceptions will be coastal parts of East Anglia where a slow-moving trough in the North Sea will bring more cloud and patchy rain, with South Wales, the South West and Channel Islands likely to see more showers.
Across the North of Scotland, it's a wet start but this'll soon move away, although the Northern Isles and far North East of Scotland may continue to see cloud and bursts of rain. But across most of Scotland, there'll be a mix of sunny intervals and showers that'll be more frequent than further South, with some heavy and wintry ones giving hail and mostly hill snow. Apart from a raw East wind across the Northern Isles, most parts today see light breezes. But it'll remain on the chilly side, with temperatures broadly getting no higher than 6 to 10C.
The far North of Scotland and maybe coasts of the North East see cloud and patchy rain, but for most, the showers fade leaving clearing skies and with light wind. This'll allow mist, patchy fog and a frost to form once more, with lowest temperatures between about zero and -4C. Later in the night, cloud will increase across the far South West where a South-Easterly breeze may freshen a little. This'll bring slowly rising temperatures but also patchy rain chiefly to Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands by morning.
An Atlantic system works its way slowly North and East, bringing bursts of rain to the South West, central southern England, Wales and Northern Ireland through the day. But after a frosty, foggy start, the remainder of England and Scotland stay mainly dry with some sunshine. This'll lift temperatures a little in a South-Easterly breeze, with tops of 8 to 12C closer to what we would normally expect in early March.
Rain becomes lighter and patchy as it works its way slowly northwards. It may not reach the North and North East of Scotland, with further bursts of rain probably moving into the South West later. A touch of frost is possible over North East Scotland, but for most, it'll be a somewhat milder night in a more noticeable South or South-Easterly breeze, with lowest temperatures around 2 to 4C in the North and North East and 6 to 9C elsewhere.
