Away from the north and west of Scotland, the weather stays in quiet mode as we end 2018. High pressure will then build across all parts to bring a settled, sunnier but chillier start to 2019.
The north and northwest of Scotland will be the places to head if you like your weather a bit windier with the odd splash of rain during today and tomorrow, as elsewhere will be seeing the continuation of the weather we've had since Christmas - e.g. quiet.
With high pressure then building up across the British Isles as 2019 begins, everywhere will get a taste of the settled, quiet conditions. Although by this point at least, there should be more sunshine around, and also some fog and frost early and late.
Overnight, we have actually seen some rain move through, mostly across the northern half of the country, but some even made it down into the southeast. It's all but cleared away now though, with just a few showers left in the northwest. These will hang around all day, particularly affecting the high ground. It'll be the east which will again see the best of any sunshine today, with western parts always prone to more cloud. Temperatures will typically reach 8-12c, so mild for the time of the year again, although it will be tempered a little by the quite strong, gusty breeze in Scotland and Northern England.
Tonight, it's a case of more of the same really, with a few showers still affecting western regions, a fair bit of cloud, but also some clearer spells which may allow some pockets of frost and patches of fog to form.
Into tomorrow (New Year's Eve), there'll perhaps be a bit more sunshine on offer across England, Wales and southern Scotland. But with low pressure not too far away, there'll also be some rain likely to affect the northwest of Scotland, and gales, even severe gales in parts of northern Scotland.
If you're headed out during the evening, for most it's set fair, with some foggy patches developing, it'll be quite chilly though, so you'll definitely want a coat. The wind across the north will begin to ease down as the bells approach, so hopefully, it should be light enough not to disrupt any fireworks displays by this point. There will still some showers and drizzly bits affecting western parts though, especially the west of Scotland.
As 2019 gets underway, high pressure builds north. Initially, it's going to ridge up quite speedily to our northwest, which will allow winds to swing into the north, turning the weather a bit chillier and also clearer. The main thrust of the colder air will just miss the UK, as it heads down through Scandinavia and the North Sea before heading into Europe. It'll likely just clip easternmost parts of Britain for a time though.
Then, the high settles over the UK right through to the end of the week, so we'll see plenty of settled, often fine weather with some fog and frost overnight. Into the weekend, as the high sinks further south, fronts do look set to start to try to attack from the northwest, with westerly winds beginning to strengthen. That change is then likely to start to take hold into next week, with a spell of Atlantic dominated, much less settled, often wet and windy weather on the way for all parts.
That's likely to hang around a while, but there have been some goings on up in the stratosphere lately, with a sudden stratospheric warming occurring. The last time that happened was prior to the 'Beast from the East' last winter. It doesn't guarantee cold weather, but there is an increased likelihood of some arriving as we move through January. You can follow the latest on the stratospheric warming over on the Netweather community.
