Sudden (Greater Manchester) weather

Headline:

Often cloudy with drizzle at times. Mild.

This Evening and Tonight:

Remaining cloudy this evening and overnight with patchy rain and drizzle, especially over higher ground. Turning foggy in places with generally murky conditions for many. Staying frost-free with light winds across the region. Minimum temperature 4 °C.

Friday:

Another grey and dull day for most with hill fog and drizzle at times, especially over the hills. Occasional brighter spells may develop at times. Staying generally mild. Maximum temperature 9 °C.

Outlook for Saturday to Monday:

A band of rain clears to brighter weather on Saturday, then windy on Sunday with sunny spells. Unsettled on Monday with rain, heavy at times. Temperatures returning nearer to average.

An erratic change from the mild and largely settled conditions of the past few days is expected. Rain, stronger winds and some snow already across Scotland may on Tuesday become more severe and start to push southwards through the middle part of next week, bringing a chance of snow to other parts of the UK, along with colder conditions more widely. A period of more settled weather then seems probable later next week, with a gradual recovery in temperatures to nearer average for the time of year, perhaps even mild. Beyond this, a fairly changeable picture is most likely although confidence in details is, as usual at this range, very low. Wettest/windiest weather in the north and west, whilst the south and east will probably remain more settled overall.

Confidence in this period is fairly low, but continuing from the previous period, there remains a chance of rather unsettled and cool conditions continuing at first, with the wettest conditions perhaps focussed more over the south (still with a risk of snow on the northern edge), with sleet and snow showers further north. Then, through the rest of January, something more climatological could return with the wettest and coolest conditions further north, and with higher pressure further south, it is more likely to be drier, and at times milder here than elsewhere.