Ever wondered why our forecasts for 5 days and beyond are written on the scale of the UK as a whole? When looking at forecasts beyond five days into the future the chaotic nature of the atmosphere starts to come into play - small events currently over the Atlantic can have potentially significant impacts on our weather in the UK in several days' time. Therefore, whilst we can still forecast the general feel of the weather to a relatively high level of accuracy using our ensemble models, it becomes harder to offer local detail to as high a level of accuracy as our shorter range forecasts. For this reason, our text forecasts for 5 days and beyond are written on the scale of the UK as a whole.
Long range forecast
Long range forecast
Monday 22 Sep - Wednesday 1 Oct
Into next week, a northwest-southeast split is most likely. The best of drier spells will be in the north and northwest where some fog and frost patches are possible, but there will be spells or rain or showers in south and eastern areas, near to an area of low pressure. It will also turn colder, as a northerly flow becomes established for a time. Later in the week, more widely drier and settled conditions could develop as high pressure becomes more influential, although probably still with some coastal showers. Temperatures should gradually return closer to average in this period. Later in the period there may be a return to a more changeable pattern but this is uncertain.
Thursday 2 Oct - Thursday 16 Oct
By the beginning of October, confidence is very low in the weather regimes most likely to affect the UK. On balance, there will likely be a transition from slow-moving weather patterns to a more changeable period at some stage although the timing on this is highly uncertain. High pressure probably close to the UK, which would offer some occasional periods of dry weather, will likely give way to a more unsettled period with some short lived dry interludes during this time. Temperatures will likely fluctuate either side of, but often close to, average.
Why isn't there more detail in the long range forecast?
Our long range forecast (which is updated on a daily basis) provides an indication of how the weather might change, or be different from normal, (i.e. warmer, colder, wetter, drier) across the whole UK. Met Office meteorologists consider output from a range of weather models when writing these forecasts. These models include those from the Met Office as well as models from other global forecasting centres such as the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts ( ECMWF).