The exceptional early March warmth that has bathed many parts if the UK in glorious sunshine will soon give way to a more seasonal feel, as Arctic air pushes southwards bringing a marked drop in temperatures.
A DANA depression has been bringing copious amounts of rain and some flooding to Portugal and Spain, with more heavy showers and thunderstorms likely across Iberia into the coming week. But closer to home things couldn't be more different, with much of the East and South East devoid of any rain now for almost a fortnight.
Today, Sunday, we see the last of this wonderful spell of early spring weather which has brought warmth and unbelievable amounts of sunshine especially to eastern England. Here, by Sunday evening, some places will be approaching 80 hours of sunshine, a figure well above the average for June, let alone early March.
So it's another glorious afternoon in prospect, with Sunday seeing lots of warm sunshine, albeit rather hazy in the South. The exceptions will be the North of Scotland and the far South West where there'll be a few showers, mainly across the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands. Temperatures will be into the mid to high teens Celsius once more, in an East or South Easterly breeze that'll keep exposed coasts cooler.
After dark, the northern half of Scotland sees showers, as colder air begins to work its way from the North. Apart from the Channel Islands where you may continue to see the odd shower, the remainder of the country remains dry. There'll be clear spells and, with an Easterly breeze mainly light, a few mist or fog patches may form later in the night. It may also turn cold enough for a touch of frost, most likely in the West and around the Welsh marshes. Lowest temperatures between about 2 and 6C.
Central and southern parts continue to see warm sunny intervals on Monday where it'll stay dry, but there'll be more cloud than of late. A North East wind will keep temperatures down towards the East coast, with the highest temperatures of 15 or 16C across sheltered parts of the West. The remainder of England, after a dry start, will see showers moving down from the North, with a noticeable cold feel by the end of the day.
Meanwhile, across Scotland all parts will have turned colder, with a somewhat gusty and raw North wind bringing showers particularly to the North and East. Here they'll be turning to snow on hills, with some wintry conditions possible even at lower levels later. Temperatures across parts of southern Scotland will be some ten degrees Celsius down on Sunday's values, getting no higher than about 4 to 6C.
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The colder air spreads to all but southern England after dark, where it should stay dry with a few clear intervals for a while. But generally expect a fair amount of cloud and some showers, these mostly in the North and East where they'll be wintry in places giving hill snow. Although still milder in the far South, there'll be a frost where skies break in the West, with temperatures in the range 0 to 6C by Tuesday morning.
For the remainder of the working week it's a colder prospect, under the first bout of spring northerlies. These'll bring further showers, wintry on hills, chiefly to the North and East with embedded frosts enhancing the shower activity from time to time.
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