Met Office daily weather: A change on the way after this week's cold spell

Friday will begin dry and fine for many areas, with long spells of sunshine. However, the sunshine will become increasingly hazy as the day progresses. Eastern and southeastern England may see more cloud, with some showers likely during the morning, but these will fade into the afternoon, allowing for brighter conditions later on.

Elsewhere, cloud and outbreaks of rain will begin to move into Scotland and Northern Ireland during the afternoon and evening. Some of this rain may fall as snow over the hills of Scotland at first, before turning to rain as temperatures rise slightly. Winds will be light to moderate for most, but it will remain widely cold, especially away from windward coasts.

Temperatures on Friday will struggle to rise, with inland areas seeing highs of just 4 to 6°C. Over high ground from northern England northwards, and where there is snow cover in Scotland, temperatures may remain below freezing. It will be less cold near windward coasts in the west and later in the far northwest, where values could reach 9 to 11°C.

Friday night will bring a fine start with a widespread frost developing in central and eastern areas. Meanwhile, cloud and outbreaks of rain in the north and northwest—locally falling as snow at first—will move eastwards into central parts of the UK, turning heavy in places. Frost will persist across southeast England, with temperatures locally dropping to minus 5°C. Elsewhere, it will turn milder from the west as the night progresses.

Outlook for Saturday

Saturday will start cold and bright in the southeast, with widespread frost. However, this will steadily be replaced by a band of cloud and rain, some of it heavy at times, moving erratically south-eastwards. Showers will follow into northwestern parts, but for many, there will be an interlude of drier weather with fairly light winds and some sunny spells developing. Further cloud and rain are likely to spill into western and southwestern areas late in the day.

Temperatures will be around average, but fresh to strong winds are expected along southern coasts ahead of the initial rain band, with a risk of coastal gales in the far southwest during the evening and overnight.

Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Aidan McGivern, said: “It is going to be a cold start to Friday. And there’ll be slippery surfaces out there, particularly around some of these northern and eastern coastal parts as well as southwestern areas where we’ve seen the showers coming and going. But a change is on the way. We’ve got a ridge of high pressure moving through on Friday before these fronts return from the Atlantic. The winds starting to return from the west as we go into the weekend. Initially though, Friday is cold but bright, a frosty and icy start for many of us. And then the showers in the east becoming fewer and further between many places ending up with a sunny afternoon.

“Plenty of sunshine for England and Wales, but for parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, particularly towards the northwest, thicker cloud arrives by the end of the afternoon and outbreaks of rain coming in from the Atlantic containing something a little less cold, but still the potential for some hill snow as that system bumps into the colder air. And it will be a cold afternoon once again. Temperatures inland of 3°C to 6°C and around the coast we’ll see 7°C to 9°C.

“Towards the end of the day back up into the double figures for the far northwest as that Atlantic air returns. And certainly that’s going to mark a significant change going into the weekend. We’ve got the wet weather slowly making its way into western and northwestern parts on Friday night. Clearer spells towards the east and southeast and as a result another frosty night to come with again a few icy patches around and widely a cold start to the weekend. But once that Atlantic rain moves in, well, the weekend’s going to be very different. Spells of rain, stronger winds as well. I wouldn’t exactly call it mild, but it will be a little less cold than it’s been through the past few days.”