Keele (Staffordshire) weather

Headline:

Sunny spells on Wednesday. Wet and windy on Thursday.

Today:

A largely dry day with a mix of cloud and sunny spells, though the odd light shower is still possible. Breezy, especially over the hills with temperatures around average. Maximum temperature 12 °C.

Tonight:

Dry this evening with clear spells initially. Cloud building overnight with winds strengthening, but remaining dry across the region. Mild. Minimum temperature 6 °C.

Thursday:

A few bright breaks to start, otherwise becoming cloudy and windy with outbreaks of rain, locally heavy at times. Milder by day, but turning colder overnight. Maximum temperature 14 °C.

Outlook for Friday to Sunday:

Colder with some blustery showers on Friday, possibly wintry. A frosty start to Saturday, then largely dry and sunny spells. Becoming cloudier through Sunday with outbreaks of rain.

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. Later in the period there may be a transition to more blocked or slower evolving weather patterns, though confidence in the detail of this is low.

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.