Met Office daily weather: Turning autumnal over the weekend

Turning autumnal over the weekend with wind and showers

Saturday will begin with showers affecting some coastal areas, while the Northern Isles may see spells of heavier rain and the possibility of thunder. Elsewhere, the day starts mainly fine, but conditions will deteriorate as cloud and wind increase, bringing rain, locally heavy, quickly eastwards across most regions, with the exception of the far northeast and southeast, which may remain dry until evening.

Gales are expected for coasts and hills, and blustery winds will be felt inland. Temperatures will be locally warm in the northeast and east, with highs reaching the low 20s Celsius and a peak of 23–24°C in East Anglia and Lincolnshire. Elsewhere, temperatures will be closer to the seasonal norm.

Rain will clear eastwards during the evening, leaving clear spells behind. However, frequent blustery showers will continue to affect western parts, where it will remain windy. Overnight temperatures will be mainly near normal, with the east and far northeast staying relatively warm. Most areas will see lows in the high single figures to low teens.

Outlook for Sunday

Sunday will see a band of rain clearing northeastwards, including the Northern Isles. The day will then feature a mix of sunshine and showers, with the focus of showers towards the west. These showers may be heavy at times, with a risk of thunder, hail, and gusty winds, and could become more organised in western areas. Longer spells of rain are likely across parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland. Winds will be moderate to fresh, strong to near-gale along western coasts, and blustery around showers. Temperatures will be near normal, though it may feel rather cool in the south.

Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Alex Burkill, said: “Through Saturday morning, it’ll be a bright, often sunny start for many of us, especially towards the east. Further west, however, there’s a cloud building and then a frontal system that's going to sweep through initially across Northern Ireland, but pushing into western parts of Scotland, England, and Wales as we go through the day.

“Now, this rain is going to be quite heavy and it's going to last for a little while and so it's quite a different feature to what we've had recently. Recently, we've had those showers which have been quite heavy and they've brought intense downpours but quite short-lived. Whereas this slightly heavier, more persistent rains likely to lead to some rainfall totals building up a little bit. We're talking 10 to 20 millimetres perhaps quite widely. Some places seeing 30 to 40 millimetres particularly over higher ground towards the west. So, a fair amount of rain to come through. It shouldn't cause too many issues.

“However, we also have those strong winds to watch out for with that rain. Risk of gales around coastal spots and some higher ground, particularly towards the west. But even elsewhere, it is going to be a pretty blustery day. All that wet and windy weather is going to have a knock-on effect to the feel of things. Temperatures still high teens, low twenties for many of us. Clinging on to the highest temperatures towards the east for that little bit longer because the front's taking a while to move in. But yes, definitely feeling a fair bit fresher because of the unsettled weather that's pushing through.

“That front does continue its progress northeastwards as we go through the day tomorrow. So, eastern areas turning wetter later on further west. Something a little bit drier, maybe even brighter before the sun sets, but a few showers pushing through at times as well. Then a look ahead to Sunday and again a mostly fine start today for many of us, but once more plenty of showers. Again, these most frequent towards the west where there's chance of some hail, some lightning, some thunder mixed in with them. More eastern parts seeing a fair fewer showers here.

“So, less likely to catch a few, but most places, particularly towards the north and west, likely to have at least a couple of showers coming in. Potential for a spell of slightly more persistent rain affecting parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, but elsewhere, some decent bright sunny spells in between those showers. And again, temperatures similar to recent days really. So, high teens, low twenties in the shelter from the blustery winds, away from the showers, not feeling too bad in any sunny breaks."