Today is St Swithin's day and it's going to be dry but there's no sign of 40 days of dry weather to follow.
Looking at this mornings radar, I cannot see any rain, and it's St Swithin's day. So as this old adage says, it shouldn't rain for the next forty days and forty nights. Well not until Wednesday night or Thursday anyway over central and eastern parts, as this old weather lore has little in the way of truth.
For the moment we have an anticyclone centred across the country, but with a lot of cloud across East Anglia, the South East and the East Midlands. There's also patchy cloud elsewhere, but many central and western areas are beginning the working week fine and sunny. Where you've woken to clear skies, some rural areas have started chilly, but the sun is already quickly lifting temperatures.
Where you have cloud, the sun will eventually come through in a fine, dry day over the bulk of the country. Many places will have a fair amount of sunshine, but some cloud will build to perhaps give the odd shower over Northern Ireland, Scotland and in the West later. But you'll very be unlucky if you see one.
Winds will be light so it'll feel warm in the sunshine, with top temperatures mostly between 19 and 24C depending on cloud cover. A northerly breeze will keep some North Sea coastal counties cooler, however, as will be the North and North East of Scotland, with 14 to 17C more likely here.
There'll be some patchy cloud, but most parts have a fine, dry evening with further sunshine to end the day. Clear spells will allow it to turn misty in some rural areas after dark and with light winds, a few short-lived fog patches are likely by dawn. It'll stay mostly dry, but the West could still see the odd shower, as could parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, where it'll cloud over more generally during the night as Atlantic systems approach from the West bringing a southerly breeze. For most, it'll be a mild night although a few rural parts of England and East Wales could turn a little chilly again, with lowest temperatures in the range 9 to 14C.
As our resident anticyclone begins to slip to the South on Tuesday, increasing the risk of catching a shower over Northern Ireland, the North and West of Scotland and North West England as Atlantic troughs brush past. Not everywhere will see a shower though in a mixed day here, but should you catch one it should be quite sharp.
Meanwhile, over much of England, Wales and probably Lothian and The Borders it'll be another dry, fine day with spells of sunshine. It'll become very warm in the East and South where you see the best of the sun, with top temperature across England and Wales in the range 20 to 26C. Over Scotland and Northern Ireland, you can expect a cooler 14 to 19C. Winds will be mostly light or moderate South or South Westerly.
It'll be a warm summery Tuesday evening across central and eastern areas, that hopefully will afford good viewing of a partial eclipse of the moon. You will also see Saturn just to the upper right of the moon and the bright Jupiter much further to the right in the South. A dry night will follow that'll turn misty in some rural areas in light winds. Further West and over Scotland and Northern Ireland it'll be more cloudy and unsettled with occasional showers in a more noticeable southerly breeze. For most, it'll be a mild night, with minimum temperatures between 10 and 15C.
The remainder of the week has a more unsettled look about it, although Wednesday should still be fine in eastern and some central areas. Towards the weekend though it'll probably turn more generally unsettled with occasional rain or showers heavy in the North and West. By Sunday though, the East and South could be turning brighter and much warmer.