After the recent wet and windy weather we now have a period of calmer weather due to an area of high pressure that is pushing in from Scandinavia. Through today (Friday) and into the weekend a frontal system will bring some further rain for Northern Ireland and Scotland, but elsewhere it will be mostly dry.

By Monday many places will have a good deal of dry and fine weather as the high pressure will be centred in the North Sea, though it could also be rather cloudy at times. The pressure system will gradually move westwards, and will continue to dominate the weather across the UK through next week bringing further settled conditions.

Forecast surface pressure chart for Monday showing the high pressure in the North Sea

Daytime temperatures next week should be higher than of late, especially in the north where warmer air could well bring highs of 14 or 15C. Further south an east or north-easterly flow is likely to bring in slightly colder air from the continent and it may be cloudier here as well. Overnight temperatures are likely to drop, especially under any clear breaks, and so some frosts are still likely. The calm conditions also mean some fog is probable.

Forecast temperatures for next week

In a previous blog we talked about the current Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) and this is linked to the weather we can expect over the next week or so.

The high pressure that is currently pushing into the North Atlantic is a common outcome from an SSW warming event. This will then bring an easterly air flow to the south through next week.

When an SSW occurs in the middle of winter it often leads to a cold snap for the UK. As it is occurring in the middle of March it means many will see some fine weather with some decent temperatures, especially in the best of the sunshine towards the north.

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