Gavin's Thoughts (June 7th)

[Gavin P]

Hello folks;

It looks as though we're going to see high pressure dominating the weather this week, so there should be a good deal of fine dry weather to come. The position of the high will change over the course of the week, though. We start with the high ridging in from the south-west, bringing with it warm air from the tropics, but we'll end the week with the anticyclone ridging up to Greenland and sitting to the west of Ireland. This will mean much cooler air air gets pulled down from the arctic on northerly winds, and with low pressure running down the north sea, the east could end the week on a distinctly cool and showery note, whilst west is best for warmer and sunnier weather.

This weekend we're seeing high pressure ridging up from the south-west. Low pressure is close to the east coast today, but by tomorrow all areas should be under the influence of the extensive high pressure.

So Saturday is going to be quite a cloudy day for many central and eastern parts of the UK with only limited brightness and a few showers. On the east coast itself we may see some heavier rain at times. In the west we see more in the way of sunshune, and Ireland and south-west looks to have quite a nice day with plenty of sunshine and dry weather, too. Temps 16-19c and feeling quite humid.

Sunday will be a much better day for all, with high pressure sitting more or less over the top of the country. Lot of sunshine, almost nationwide, with light winds and dry weather everywhere. An absolutely super day with temps reaching a very warm 23-25c (73-77f) across the country. Get those Barbies sizzling!

Monday will be similar to Sunday, with high pressure sitting over the UK. A weather front close to northern Scotland could bring cloud and outbreaks of rain for a time to the far north of the nation, but otherwise its a dry, sunny and very warm day once again. Temps if anything may be slightly up on Sunday's temps, so perhaps looking at 24-26c (75-79f)

Tuesday is very similar again, with the subtle differance that the high pressure will be starting to slip back into the Atlantic very slightly. Essentially its another dry, sunny and very warm day once again. The far north of Scotland could still be seeing some outbreaks of rain whilst eastern coasts will start to notice more in the way of cloud and a freshening wind. So, temps on the east coast may be pegged back at 18c, but otherwise its another terrific day, with temps of 24-25c for most.

Wednesday is the change over day, where the high pressure moves far enough out into the Atlantic to allow much cooler air to start to filter down from the north. England and Wales probably gets another dry and warm day, though an increase of cloud will be noticeable. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England probably sees some sort of weak cold front pushing down from the north, so expect a defined band of cloud and showers to be pushing south and weakening all the time. Temps still warm in the south (not as warm, though) 21-22c, but much cooler in the north, 15-17c at best.

Thursday sees high pressure in the Atlantic ridging up to Greenland with the UK sitting under a cool northerly flow. Low pressure running into Scandinavia and down the north sea could produce more in the way of cloud and showers close to the east coast.

Quite a cloudy day then for the east, with a stiff northerly wind and some showers on the coast. Central parts as well as most of Scotland will also see quite a lot of cloud and just limited sunshine. The west is most definatly best and we should see a fair amount of sunshine continuing and towards the south-west we should hang on to the warmest temperatures. Still reaching 18-19c around Bristol, but most of the country will be doing well to see 16-17c, and on the east coast, probably no better than 14-15c - So below par for much of the country.

Friday continues to see a east/west split with the east seeing the most cloudy weather and still with some showery rain possible. The west sees the best sunshine and the warmest temperatures. The rest of the country probably stays just about dry, but has a lot of cloud and it'll feel cool away from the far south-west with maximums of 15-17c for most places.

Next weekend is with some uncertainty, but there is some indication of a further drop in pressure with pressure continuing to rise towards Greenland, so we may see heavy rain pushing in from the east over the weekend, with distinctly cold temperatures. As I say, a lot of uncertainty, but theres a risk of a really wet, cool and miserable weekend, next weekend.

Summary: Very warm, dry and sunny for all parts early in the week. Becoming much cooler later in the week with northerly winds. Warmest and sunniest weather towards the western side. A big question mark over next weekend?