Sedgefield Racecourse (Durham) weather

Headline:

Cold and cloudy. A little rain and hill snow possible.

This Evening and Tonight:

Rather cloudy, breezy and damp, with some light rain and drizzle at times that will fall as a little snow over hills. Temperatures dipping later in the night, although the wind should help limit inland frost and local icy patches. Minimum temperature -1 °C.

Tuesday:

A colder-feeling day, accentuated by the continuing wind. Mostly cloudy, with further spells of light rain and drizzle possible, again giving a little snow over inland hills. Becoming wetter overnight. Maximum temperature 5 °C.

Outlook for Wednesday to Friday:

Staying cold, damp and cloudy, possibly briefly more widely cold into Friday with some snow and ice to lower levels, although this aspect carries low confidence. East or southeasterly winds.

Frontal systems over the Atlantic, steered by a south-shifted jet stream, are likely to approach the UK at times, but tending to stall as they encounter a blocking area of high pressure to the north and northeast. This will result in further spells of rain at times, falling in areas already sensitive to flooding. As these bands of rain spread northwards, some snow will be possible in northern England and Scotland, mainly over higher ground, as they encounter colder air. A subtle shift southwards of these areas of low pressure is anticipated during the second week of February, which may allow a greater chance of colder air to spread across larger parts of the UK at times, including the south, bringing an increased risk of wintry hazards.

Whilst confidence is inevitably low through this period, a south-shifted jet stream is likely to persist for much of the time, steering areas of low pressure towards and south of the UK. This is likely to bring further spells of wet and windy weather, with rain most frequent in the south and west, and perhaps also eastern Scotland, with the driest conditions, relative to normal, in northwest Scotland. Some hill snow will be possible at times as the wet weather encounters colder air across northern parts of the UK. There is a hint that storm systems may start to track a little further north by March though. Temperatures overall will likely be close to average for most parts, but perhaps a little below in the northeast at first.