Mild And Springlike For Many But Wet In The North And West

It remains spring-like over much of England and Wales today after a chilly start in some eastern areas. There'll be sunny spells but with more in the way of cloud than yesterday, amounts of which will tend to vary. In the West, however, it's a different story, with outbreaks of rain over Northern Ireland and western Scotland, that should have cleared from Northern Ireland by the afternoon. Other parts of the West and South West may also see showers through the day, but many central and eastern areas, in particular, will stay dry.

Radar from earlier today - keep track of the latest rainfall here.

The highest temperatures will be in central and eastern areas, with London and perhaps parts of Norfolk reaching 17 or 18C by mid-afternoon depending on amounts of sunshine. For most, though 13 to 15C will be the maximum, with Scotland and the West cooler, where 9 to 12C seems more likely. A South or South Easterly wind will tend to freshen through the day, to perhaps give some strong gusts in exposed western parts later.

In a mixed evening, there'll be a fair amount of dry weather, with the best of the breaks in the cloud sheet mostly in central and eastern areas and over the East of Scotland. There'll be a few showers dotted about though mostly over Northern Ireland and in the West. As pressure continues to leak away, however, there'll be outbreaks of rain moving into the South during the night. These will have spread into the Midlands, parts of Wales and northern England by morning, with the rain heavy in places perhaps giving thunder. It'll be a mostly mild night though in a light or moderate southerly breeze, with temperatures generally not falling below 6 to 8C in central and southern areas. Across Northern Ireland and Scotland, however, minimum values of 2 to 5C will allow a touch of ground frost and a few short-lived mist or fog patches to form mostly in rural glens.

Saturday sees a real mixed bag of weather across the country and will depend on the position of a slow-moving front. So there are uncertainties, but there's a chance that it may become bright and quite warm again across East Anglia and the South East for a while, although showers, some heavy and thundery, will never be too far away. Across remaining parts of England and Wales, there'll be further locally heavy bursts of rain, with the weather tending to improve in the West later. Scotland and Northern Ireland should have sunny intervals, but in a mixed day, here too there'll be scattered showers.

Winds'll be mostly light and variable in direction, but from a southerly quarter in the East at first. Here some places could reach the 'dizzy' heights of 18 or 19C where you see the best of the sunshine but over most of England and Wales 10 to 15C will be 'nearer the mark'. Scotland and Northern Ireland will be cooler, with 9 to 11C more likely here.

Further cloud and showers seem likely into the evening that could be heavy in the East and South, but they should become lighter and fewer overnight while keeping a good deal of cloud. Northern Ireland and the North and West of Scotland will see broken skies at times, although probably with further showers moving in later in the night. Across remaining parts of England, Wales and South East Scotland it should become drier overnight, with skies breaking in places. Clear intervals and generally light winds may allow mist, patchy fog and a ground frost could form in rural areas where skies stay clear, as temperatures mostly fall to between 1 and 4C. Where you keep cloud and towards the South East, however, temperatures shouldn't drop below 5 to 7C.

As we enter the second week of April, a change sees winds turning into a North Easterly quarter. This'll bring the best of the weather to West Scotland and Northern Ireland where it'll become mainly dry. Wales and England are more mixed with the risk of showers greatest in the East and South.