There have been some headlines today suggesting the Met Office has forecast a ‘heatwave’ by the end of spring.

The articles reference a line from our March to May three-month outlook for contingency planners which refers to how our Spring weather can change depending on where large areas of ‘blocking’ high pressure systems lie in relation to the UK – something we recently wrote about when contrasting the weather this March to that of last year.

This is not, however, a forecast of what the weather is expected to be like at the end of the spring or whether a ‘heatwave’ is likely or not, but is an indication of how average temperatures may differ from normal throughout the whole three month period of March, April and May.

Clearly this is the time of year when temperatures rise in response to the sun getting higher in the northern hemisphere sky, the days get longer and continental Europe warms up. So we will undoubtedly get some warmer spells of weather as the months go on and these will be picked up in our accurate five-day forecasts, as well as our forecasts out to 30 days ahead, which gives a more general view of the weather ahead over a longer-timescale. It is our accurate five-day forecasts and weather warnings provide the best possible advice and detail on what weather to expect in the UK.

This week is set to remain very cold with further wintry flurries in places.