High pressure to the south means the sunniest, driest weather is reserved for England, Wales and Eastern Scotland today. Tomorrow sees rain in the north spreading south but weakening.
With a large anticyclone just to the South, most parts of England and Wales will have a dry weekend. You won't be quite so lucky over Scotland and Northern Ireland however, with a cold front bringing some rain tonight and at first tomorrow but even here, there'll be some dry, bright weather.
In a typical autumn morning, we have some mist and patchy fog mostly over central southern England, parts of East Wales and the West Midlands. This'll clear through the morning, lifting into low cloud in places for a time, before most regions have a fine, dry day. There'll be a lot of sunshine again particularly towards the South East, but with a few plates of cloud drifting about. The exception will be Cumbria and the North of Lancashire, where cloud will be thick enough to give patchy drizzle mostly at first and mainly towards the Solway Firth. Winds'll be light, from the South West in the North. Although mostly not as cold as yesterday morning, some rural parts of southern England did see a ground frost first thing, but the sunshine will soon lift temperatures, to between 14 and 17C by the afternoon.
Over Scotland and Northern Ireland there'll be more of a South Westerly wind, that'll be quite fresh in the North. The North and West of both Scotland and Northern Ireland will see some patchy rain, but there'll be brighter intervals also. East Scotland will be dry with variable cloud and quite warm by the afternoon where the sun comes through. Sheltered parts of Down and Armagh should also see some sunshine every now and again. Top temperatures 12 or 13C in the North and West, but 14 to 16C more generally and perhaps 17 or 18 over sheltered parts of East Scotland.
After dark England and Wales continue mainly dry with clear spells especially in central and southern areas. Light winds allow mist and patchy fog to form once more, with a ground frost possible in a few rural 'hollows' of southern England. Towards Cumbria and across the far North of England, you'll see more cloud particularly later in the night, with more of a South Westerly breeze here. Lowest temperatures 2 to 4C in the coldest spots, but more generally 6 to 8C.
Scotland and later Northern Ireland see a cold front bringing some rain, initially to the North and West but other parts later as it works its way from the North West. There'll be some heavy bursts in the North and West with the rain mostly lighter and more patchy elsewhere. Later in the night skies will be clearing from the North in a mostly moderate or fresh Westerly wind, with minimum temperatures mostly in the range 3 to 7C.
Sunday sees that now weakening front moving into northern England and later Wales and the Midlands. On it though will be nothing more than a band of cloud and the odd light shower, with the North of England seeing some sunshine to end the day. Further South it'll be fine and dry again with sunny spells, once morning mist and patchy fog have cleared.
Winds'll be mostly light Westerly, with top temperatures 16 to 18C in the South and 12 to 14C further North. After some patchy rain towards Lothian and The Borders at first, Scotland and Northern Ireland are finer on Sunday with sunny spells. Apart from a few showers in the North, it'll also be mainly dry, but it'll feel chilly in a North West to West wind that 'll be fresh across the Northern Isles, with temperatures getting no higher than 9 to 12C.
Patchy cloud moves into southern England into the evening before clearing overnight, then apart from a few showers over North Scotland where it'll be breezy, most parts are dry with clear spells. A few mist patches may form in rural areas where a touch of grass frost is possible where you have shelter from a mostly North Westerly breeze, with lowest temperatures mainly in the range 2 to 6C.
Pressure builds again early next week, giving England, Wales and much of Northern Ireland lot of dry, fine weather once more. Scotland particularly the North tends to be breezier and occasionally more unsettled, with the hint of the weather turning colder from the North later or into next weekend.
