Headline:

Cold and cloudy with rain and hill snow.

Today:

Early rain, sleet and snow soon clearing Thursday morning, then drier but remaining cloudy or overcast during the afternoon. The winds will gradually ease though the afternoon. Maximum temperature 5 °C.

Tonight:

Remaining overcast and settled with some patchy light rain over higher ground and hill fog. The wind will become light and variable. Minimum temperature 3 °C.

Friday:

Cloud thickening during Friday, turning windy as a band of rain moves though from the west, followed by showers. The wind will also freshen during the day. Maximum temperature 12 °C.

Outlook for Saturday to Monday:

Generally cloudy with rain on Saturday, turning unsettled on Sunday with showers. Monday looking overcast with moderate or heavy rain. Winds remaining moderate but temperatures feeling much milder.

Quite changeable as Atlantic frontal systems track near or across the UK at times, bringing spells of rain or showers, typically heaviest and most frequent over western areas, but interspersed with drier interludes. Some spells of strong winds will be possible at times too, again more especially in western parts. With a flow generally from the North Atlantic, temperatures will likely be near or above average for much of this period, though a trend towards something a little cooler is possible for a time around the change of the month. Later in the period there may be a trend towards slightly drier conditions in the southeast, whilst it remains wet times in the northwest, but confidence in this aspect is rather low.

Confidence is rather low through this period with regards to the weather patterns affecting the UK. The most likely outcome is a continuation of rather changeable conditions, with low pressure systems tending to pass close to or across the UK, bringing occasional spells of wet and windy weather, especially in the north and west. High pressure to the south may build across the UK at times to bring some drier, quieter interludes, this probably most frequent in the south and east. Temperatures are likely to be near or slightly above average for the period as a whole, though some relatively short-lived interludes of colder conditions remain possible.