Weekend weather, what will the start of March bring?

This weekend March will begin, as will meteorological spring. Overall there will be a lot of dry, settled weather with light winds. However, there is uncertainty about how much cloud cover will linger under the area of high pressure. There could be a good deal of sunshine and so a brighter Saturday which will feel warmer even with the cool air. If large patches of cloud do linger and don’t break up then it will be a gloomier day for parts of the UK.

Much of the weekend will be calm but the far NW will see episodes of stronger winds.

Friday looks bright even sunny for much of the UK. Much of England and Wales will be calm with a nippy evening. With clear skies, there will be a touch of frost by night. Further northwest there will be increasing high cloud as a cold front approaches. This will bring fresh southerly wind to the Western Isles by Friday evening which will strengthen overnight as the frontal rain moves closer. Before dawn the front will be active, perhaps waking some people early on Saturday with gusty winds and heavy rain for the west coast of Scotland and County Tyrone. The front is forecast to diminish as it reaches the area of high pressure over Britain.

Fog risk for eastern England and fading frontal band over Northern Ireland and Scotland to start Saturday

During Saturday the frontal band will continue moving southeastwards but fade and weaken. Ahead of this, there could be fine weather, sunshine, patchy frost and also possibly freezing fog for East Anglia.  There will be increasing cloud for Wales and northern England as the frontal band arrives. Northern Ireland will see patchy rain early on Saturday with outbreaks of rain moving across Scotland with brighter skies following from the west. Daytime temperatures will be around 9 to 11C with mostly light winds.

The cloud cover will vary but Saturday will have mostly quiet weather and any sunshine will be a bonus. 

During Saturday night the frontal band should be stretched from The Wash across to the Bristol Channel and save temperatures from falling below freezing. In southeast England and for the far north of England, the Southern Uplands and Northern Ireland there will be clear spells and a touch of frost. A brisk southwesterly wind will continue for the far NW of Scotland with more cloud here. These winds could strengthen on Sunday, perhaps affecting ferry travel to the Islands by Sunday evening. 

For much of the UK, Sunday looks fair with sunny spells and more dry weather. Another weather front will approach the far northwest of Scotland during Sunday night as temperatures in the far southeast of Egnland dip just below zero. Overall a quiet weekend weather-wise.