Met Office daily weather: Cloud and drizzle dominating with occasional sunny spells

We're starting the week of with lots of cloud and drizzle, with the occasional sunny spell

Monday will be generally cloudy across much of the United Kingdom, with the best chance of sunshine found near the high centre in the north and northwest, where fog may be slow to clear. Some western areas, particularly to the lee of high ground, may also see brighter spells. Elsewhere, persistent cloud cover will keep conditions subdued, with drizzle expected in places during the morning across England and Wales. Light showers are possible for eastern, southeastern, and southwestern England.

Winds will remain mostly light, though a brisk easterly is set to develop along southern coasts. Temperatures will be cool under persistent cloud, but in areas where sunshine breaks through, especially in Scotland, values may rise into the high teens. Across southern regions, maximum temperatures will depend on the extent of cloud breaks, with most places reaching 14-16°C and isolated spots possibly up to 17°C.

The night will be largely dry and cloudy, with some light showers near eastern and southern coasts and localised drizzle in southern areas. Clear spells are likely to develop to the lee of hills and more widely in northern regions, particularly Scotland, where localised frost and fog may form. Frost risk will be mainly confined to Scotland, with a lower chance for Northern Ireland and northern England.

 

Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Dan Stroud, said: “A bit of a cloudy start to this morning, and that cloud is pretty low. So for some of those higher routes across England and Wales, some pretty poor driving conditions. That cloud will gradually lift up during the course of the day and there'll be some breaks here and there. The best of the sunshine really across Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland, and it's here we're going to see some pretty decent temperatures.

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“Feeling quite warm and pleasant in the sunshine with highs of 16 or 15°C across parts of Scotland. But for areas under the cloud in the south, it's going to feel pretty grim out there. Now, as we move our way through the evening, not a huge amount of change. There’s a good deal of cloud across many of parts of England and Wales. and some of that cloud will be thick enough to give some outbreaks of light rain and drizzle in the extreme south and east.

“But, with clear skies across Scotland, some mist and fog will actually develop quite widely, especially across southern Scotland and in through the central belt. And with those clear skies across the north overnight temperatures will be on the chilly side with some mid-single figures especially in some rural spots. But for further south under all that cloud, those temperatures will stay up a little bit. So overnight lows of 10 or 11°C.

“Now that cloud will gradually lift across parts of Scotland first thing on Tuesday morning. but it's still a very cloudy picture across England and Wales. Still, we’re likely to see a few brighter spells here and there into the afternoon, especially in the west.”

Outlook for Tuesday

Tuesday begins with a largely clear and chilly start across much of Scotland and some western areas. Elsewhere, cloud will dominate, bringing localised drizzle at first and further light showers for parts of central, eastern, and southeastern England. Temperatures will remain near normal, but sunshine will still bring rather warm conditions where it occurs.

Tuesday night will see variable, often extensive cloud cover, with light showers or drizzle in the east and far north. The best of any clear spells will be in northern Scotland, where patchy fog may develop. Some clear spells are also possible west of high ground in western Britain, with temperatures dropping to low or mid-single figures where significant cloud breaks occur; elsewhere, values will mostly be in the range of 8-11°C.