Weather United Kingdom

Monday 20 February—Sunday 26 February

Mild at first but a chillier weekend in store

After a chilly weekend, this week brings much milder weather, particularly around midweek with temperatures reaching the mid- to high-teens. In particular, locations to the east of high ground could see some exceptionally mild values.

Despite the warmth, westerly winds will bring a succession of fronts across the country leading to spells of wet and windy weather, mainly in the north and west. High pressure centred over the continent will tend to weaken these fronts as they move into southeastern areas, leading to a drier picture here. Many eastern areas, and particularly eastern England, will also see below average rainfall due to the 'rain-shadow' effect of high ground, in this case the Pennines.

Towards the end of the week a weather front will start making slow progress from the northwest spreading cooler air across the country for the weekend. We shall see temperatures becoming closer to what we would expect at this time of year with frost returning overnight. Some patchy rain is also likely as this front makes erratic progress southwards with strong winds and showers following in the northwest.

By Sunday the UK will still be under the influence of the cooler airmass, leading to a chilly but fairly bright day in the south with showers affecting the north and west.

Monday 27 February—Sunday 4 March

Spring brings more mild weather

As we make the transition to spring, high pressure remains anchored to the south of the country, with low pressure systems from the Atlantic tracking across the northern half of the UK.

This week looks set to be fairly mild with the best of the temperatures usually in the east, however these warmer days will be punctuated by some cooler spells and some overnight frosts are still likely now and again. Spells of wet and windy weather will affect all parts at times, but the north and west will receive the lion’s share of the unsettled weather, with southern areas getting the driest conditions.

Monday 5 March—Sunday 18 March

A little more settled?

The overall set up continues in a similar theme into the middle of March, with high pressure continuing to be the dominant influence in the south. To the north, areas of low pressure will continue to feed through, however by now they are likely to be weaker systems and therefore bring less rain.

As a result, this period may well be drier in Scotland than recent weeks with sunshine amounts higher. Temperatures may be below average for the start of this period in the north, bringing a risk of some wintry weather and night frosts, however these figures should start to rise.

To the south temperatures are likely to be higher than typical values and we may well see some bright spring days, although with mist and fog sometimes forming at night in southern counties, this sunshine may at times be slow to appear.

Next week

Will we see a return to the cold?