Headline:

Patchy rain this morning then brightening up. Unsettled outlook.

Today:

Cloudy start with a little rain. Then becoming drier with a few bright or sunny intervals and just the odd shower. Fresh to strong southerly winds. Maximum temperature 10 °C.

Tonight:

A dry start to the evening then a band of rain crossing Orkney mid evening then Shetland around midnight, followed by clearer weather with scattered showers. Southerly gales. Minimum temperature 7 °C.

Wednesday:

Showers will become more frequent during the morning, then more scattered later with more in the way of sunshine. Strong to gale southerly winds veering westerly, perhaps severe briefly. Maximum temperature 9 °C.

Outlook for Thursday to Saturday:

A very showery few days the showers most frequent and heavy on Thursday when there will be southwesterly gales.

Mostly changeable through this period, with Atlantic frontal systems passing close to or across the UK at times. These will bring spells of rain and showers, most frequent and heavy in the west or northwest, and perhaps accompanied by strong winds. However, there should also be some drier interludes under transient ridges of high pressure, with longer dry periods most likely in the south and east, though even here some wet weather is likely at times. Temperatures will be near average for the period as a whole, but with some shorter-duration colder interludes at times when frost and hill snow will be possible. Later in the period there may be a transition to more blocked or slower evolving weather patterns, though confidence in the detail of this is low.

More blocked, or slowly evolving, weather patterns are favoured for late March into early April, with high pressure probably building to the north or northeast of the UK. Whilst confidence is low in how this will influence the weather across the UK, this tends to lead to a more prolonged period of a certain weather type, be it settled or unsettled. In any case, a reduction in Atlantic-dominated weather patterns is favoured, although some wet weather remains possible at times, perhaps more especially in the south and east whilst northwestern areas tend to be drier than average. Temperatures will probably be close to average for the period as a whole, but there is an increased chance of some colder conditions developing for a time with a risk of frost.