Met Office daily weather: A mix of cloud and sunshine as we head into the weekend

Friday and Saturday will offer a mix of cloud and sunshine, with the best conditions in eastern and southern regions.

Friday will bring a mix of variable cloud and some sunny spells, with the best of the sunshine expected across eastern parts of Scotland and northeast England. Any fog patches lingering in the southwest during the early morning will clear by mid-morning, allowing for brighter conditions to develop.

Further north and northwest, thicker cloud will persist, bringing some patchy light rain or drizzle at times. Winds will be fresh to strong in the far north, while elsewhere they will remain light to moderate. Temperatures will be near normal under cloudier skies, but rather warm where sunshine breaks through.

Maximum temperatures on Friday will be highly dependent on cloud breaks. In areas sheltered from the wind, particularly eastern Scotland and northeast England, values of 16-18°C are likely. Locally, where cloud breaks occur in the south, temperatures could reach 18-19°C. More widely, under extensive stratocumulus in the northwest, maximum temperatures will be closer to 13-14°C.

Friday night will be rather cloudy in western and northern areas, with variable cloud and clear spells elsewhere. Where skies clear, especially in central and southern regions, some fog patches are likely to form.

Outlook for Saturday

Saturday looks set to be dry for most areas, with clear or sunny spells developing after any early fog patches gradually clear through the morning. Thicker cloud and some patchy light rain or drizzle may persist in the far north. Winds will be moderate to fresh along the far north and southern coasts, but light elsewhere. A patchy rural ground frost is possible at first, but daytime maximum temperatures will be near normal to rather warm.

Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Aidan McGivern, said: “We start Friday with a lot of cloud cover. The thickest cloud by this stage into the Midlands, the southeast, as well, seeing that cloud drifting through. A cloudier day expected for the south of England and South Wales compared with Thursday. But conversely, North Wales, Northern England, much of Scotland seeing brighter skies compared with Thursday and some brightness developing for Northern Ireland, even Western Scotland where we do continue to have an Atlantic flow and some light drizzly showers.

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“But all in all, it's a settled day with temperatures of 16-17°C generally. But where we get some sunshine and some warmth from the wind travelling across the country, 18°C or even 19°C is possible. Then into Friday evening, the thicker cloud towards the south tends to drift southwards but remains across southern counties. We'll continue to see a feed of cloud from the Atlantic into western Scotland into Oakley and Shetland, bringing some outbreaks of generally light showery rain. But otherwise, for most, it's a settled night.

“High pressure is moving on top of the UK and so winds are falling light in most places away from the far north and where we get some clear spells again there'll be some mist and fog patches lower temperatures compared with previous nights as well fairly widely into the single figures or even the mid-single figures in places.

“Not an entirely sunny weekend either. We start Saturday with a lot of cloud in the south and again the north and northwest of Scotland, but I think a brighter day all in all across the country. We'll see cloud breaks drift southwards as the day progresses. Plenty of sunshine across Northern Ireland, Wales, central and eastern part of England and eastern Scotland. But western Scotland, Orne for example, seeing thickening cloud through the day and some more persistent light rain arriving later on. 14-15 °C here with a brisk breeze from the southwest.”

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