Belfast Newforge (County Antrim) weather

Headline:

Rain clears to bright spells and showers on Thursday. Windy.

This Evening and Tonight:

Cloudy with occasional rain, this becoming heavy and persistent in the north and west later. Windy night with fresh to strong southwesterly winds, gales over coasts and hills later. Minimum temperature 7 °C.

Thursday:

Heavy rain in the morning clearing to sunny spells and a few showers in the afternoon. Windy at first. Maximum temperature 8 °C.

Outlook for Friday to Sunday:

Cold on Friday with rain and snow showers. Showers or longer spells of rain on Saturday, snow on hills at first. Further rain followed by showers on Sunday.

Mostly changeable through this period, with Atlantic frontal systems passing close to or across the UK at times. These will bring spells of rain and showers, most frequent and heavy in the west or northwest, and perhaps accompanied by strong winds. However, there should also be some drier interludes under transient ridges of high pressure, with longer dry periods most likely in the south and east, though even here some wet weather is possible at times. Temperatures will be near average for the period as a whole, but with some shorter-duration colder interludes at times when frost and hill snow will be possible.

Blocked, or slowly evolving, weather patterns are favoured for late March into early April, with high pressure probably building to the north or northeast of the UK. Whilst confidence is low in how this will influence the weather across the UK, this tends to lead to a more prolonged period of a certain weather type, be it settled or unsettled. In any case, a reduction in Atlantic-dominated weather patterns is likely, although some wet weather remains possible at times, perhaps more especially in the south and east whilst northwestern areas tend to be drier than average. Temperatures will probably be close to average for the period as a whole, but there is an increased chance of some colder conditions developing for a time with a risk of frost.