Headline:

Dry with long sunny spells developing, feeling cooler.

Today:

A cold and quite cloudy start with some frost. Then it will be a dry and increasingly sunny day, but feeling cooler than recent days. Maximum temperature 8 °C.

Tonight:

It will stay dry throughout the evening and overnight. Clear skies at first, but high cloud spreading in from the west later. Overnight frost developing. Minimum temperature -2 °C.

Saturday:

After a chilly start with overnight frost it will be another dry and bright day and feeling a bit milder again, especially towards the north coast. Maximum temperature 10 °C.

Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday:

Variable cloud and bright spells on Sunday and Monday, staying mostly dry but with the occasional spell of rain. Dry start Tuesday but becoming windier as rain spreads east later.

The first part of this period will continue to see the UK located at the interface between high pressure across Europe and low pressure over the North Atlantic. As such, western areas will likely see spells of rain at times, along with stronger winds, whereas eastern parts should see more in the way of drier interludes, though even here, some rain is possible from time to time. Towards the middle of March, there is a signal for unsettled conditions to perhaps become more widespread, with all parts seeing a higher chance of rain and stronger winds. Throughout, temperatures should overall be a little above average for most areas.

The start of this period could see unsettled conditions fairly widely across the UK, with spells of rain and strong winds affecting many areas at times, although western areas likely remain wettest. Then, whilst confidence in the details is low, there is the potential for weather patterns to become slower-moving by late March, with unsettled weather becoming more confined to parts of the south, as areas towards the north and northwest turn drier. Given this pattern, the chance of wintry hazards will increase compared to earlier in March. Overall, temperatures will probably end up near to average, but there is an increasing chance of below average temperatures towards the end of March, but at present there is no strong sign for any really cold weather to develop.