Fort William (Highland) weather

Headline:

Strong winds and heavy rain this morning. Mainly bright afternoon.

Today:

Cloudy with heavy rain at first. Rain clearing eastwards by midday to leave a largely dry afternoon with long sunny spells developing. Risk of a few passing showers this afternoon. Breezy with strong winds over the Western Isles. Maximum temperature 18 °C.

Tonight:

Showers will largely die out this evening leaving most places dry with clear spells. Remaining windy on the west coast with further showers through the night. Minimum temperature 7 °C.

Thursday:

Rather windy with showers in the west, some heavy at times. Further east it will mainly dry, with the longest sunny spells around the Moray Firth. Maximum temperature 16 °C.

Outlook for Friday to Sunday:

Rather changeable with showers or longer spells of rain on Friday, but generally drier on the weekend with just a few light showers.

High pressure will likely be in place over southern UK through the first few days of this period. This means plenty of dry weather to be had here, albeit with some chilly nights and overnight and morning fog in places. In the north, a rather more changeable pattern will continue, with occasional rain and windy conditions at times. Broadly changeable weather patterns look to continue through to mid-month, with ridges of high pressure extending from the southwest, interspersed by Atlantic frontal systems. These could be associated with quite deep and fast-moving depressions, bringing the potential for windy weather more widely, but perhaps more likely in the north and east. Temperatures probably near or slightly above normal overall, but with some day to day oscillations.

Quite an uncertain period of weather, with earlier signals of widely wetter than normal weather looking less likely. The second half of October will probably maintain a changeable pattern overall and in the absence of any particularly strong trends or signals, something close to climatology is preferred. This means the wettest and at times windiest weather is more likely in the west and northwest and relatively drier conditions more likely towards the south and east. With a westerly type considered most likely, this would support temperatures remaining close to or a little above average overall. However, there is a chance that more slowly evolving weather patterns develop, which could either lead to longer drier spells more widely or rainfall accumulating in climatologically drier areas.