UK weather

Headline:

Sunny spells and isolated showers. Temperatures near average.

Today:

Sunny spells and largely dry conditions for most. A few showers mainly in the west, with blustery winds in the northwest. Cloud and showery rain reach Northern Ireland later. Cooler than Wednesday, with temperatures closer to average.

Tonight:

Dry with clear spells in the south and southeast, chilly in rural areas with isolated mist or fog. Windy elsewhere with showers, some heavy and persistent, especially across southwest Scotland.

Friday:

Bands of heavy showers, with a risk of hail and thunder, move northeast across many areas. Further showers follow in the northwest, while southeast England stays largely dry and warm.

Outlook for Saturday to Monday:

Unsettled at times, with rain affecting mostly northern areas as well as England and Wales. Brighter spells develop elsewhere. Generally warmer in the south, with temperatures nearer average further north.

A band of cloud and increasingly patchy rain will likely come south early in the period with a ridge of high pressure then bringing a spell of mostly dry and fresher conditions, some chilly nights possible. Broadly changeable weather patterns look to continue through to the middle of October with areas of low pressure most likely to pass to the northwest of the UK with higher pressure across the south. So further rain and strong winds at times, mainly focused across the northwest, while southern areas see more in the way of dry weather. Temperatures close to or rather above average on the whole, but still scope for some unseasonably warm weather across the south.

The second half of October will probably maintain a changeable pattern overall with showers or longer spells of rain often moving in from the Atlantic. This means the wettest and at times windiest weather is more likely in the west and northwest, and relatively drier conditions more likely towards the south and east. With a westerly type considered most likely, this would support temperatures remaining close to or a little above average overall. However, there is a chance that more slowly evolving weather patterns develop, which could either lead to longer drier spells more widely or rainfall accumulating in climatologically drier areas.