Weather and climate change

Headline:

Wet and windy with Storm Bert bringing disruption for many.

Today:

Rain and snow spread northeast with strong winds bringing blizzard conditions across parts of the north. Severe gales in coastal and mountainous regions. Milder later with a rapid thaw of snow in the north. Further heavy, blustery showers to follow.

Tonight:

Mild with temperatures continuing to rise overnight. Widely cloudy with further spells of heavy rain for many and very strong winds. Windy with coastal gales, severe at times, continuing overnight.

Sunday:

Rain spreads east with clear spells developing across central parts. Further blustery showers across Scotland and Northern Ireland, and remaining rather wet in the south. Strong to gale force winds.

Outlook for Monday to Wednesday:

Sunny spells and showers, blustery at times though becoming infrequent by Tuesday. Unsettled on Wednesday, with persistent rain and strong winds spreading northeast across England and Wales. Temperatures trending down.

Updated: 04:00 (UTC) on Sat 23 Nov 2024

Probably a quieter interlude to start this period for much of the UK as high pressure builds across the north with a return of night frosts. However there is still a risk of some rain across southern parts of the country on Wednesday, although the northern extent of this is uncertain. The high is likely to migrate eastwards during the second half of next week, potentially allowing some outbreaks of rain to move into some some northwestern areas along with some stronger winds. Into December, and while signals are mixed it looks most likely that high pressure may re-assert itself close to or over the UK, with temperatures generally near average, but some overnight frost is likely, and rather cold by day where any fog persists.

Updated: 14:00 (UTC) on Fri 22 Nov 2024

The start of this period looks like being largely settled, with high pressure close to if not over the UK. However as we move further into December there are signs that it will become less settled with west or northwesterly types preferred, These will bring some wetter and windier interludes with a risk of some snow, especially for hills in the north. These conditions look more likely to dominate towards the middle of December. Temperatures generally close to average through the period.

Updated: 15:00 (UTC) on Sat 23 Nov 2024