Papa Westray Youth Hostel (Orkney Islands) weather

Headline:

Cloudy Tuesday with showery rain spreading south during the afternoon.

This Evening and Tonight:

This evening will be dry. Then the rest of the night will remain dry with clear periods. Frost developing where skies become clear for some time. Minimum temperature 0 °C.

Tuesday:

A cloudy day with showery rain spreading from the northwest, reaching Shetland from late morning and Orkney in the evening. Maximum temperature 7 °C.

Outlook for Wednesday to Friday:

Breezy on Wednesday with showery rain. Bitterly cold northwesterly winds on Thursday and Friday with frequent snow showers, perhaps some longer spells of sleet or snow across Shetland.

Northerly winds will bring a spell of very cold, wintry conditions to much of if not all of the UK through at least the early part of this period. These will bring snow showers to areas that are exposed to onshore winds. Subtle day-to-day changes in wind direction will change the places most exposed to the showers, but where they occur some significant accumulations of snow are likely. There are likely to be some more coherent bands of sleet and snow working south, and these may bring a risk of more prolonged and widespread wintry precipitation affecting some inland areas. Things become less certain by the second week of January, however it's possible the cold conditions may persist with an ongoing risk of winter hazards across much of the UK.

High pressure will probably be close to the UK at the start of this period, perhaps most likely centered to the west, and whilst this may allow relatively settled and dry conditions with a risk of frost and fog initially, there will be the chance of some occasional wet weather at times, perhaps more especially in the north and east. Given some relatively cold air close to the UK, this may bring the chance of some wintry hazards in places. Towards mid-month, there is the potential for rather more changeable conditions to develop more widely, although confidence in this aspect of the forecast is currently low.