Thursday will bring a mix of cloud and brighter intervals across much of the UK. While there will be some sunshine breaking through at times, showers will also develop, particularly across northern and western areas and parts of eastern England. These showers will be hit and miss, meaning some places will stay dry for long periods while others see brief bursts of rain.

Further northwest, especially across parts of Scotland, cloud will be thicker with spells of more persistent rain at times, accompanied by a brisk breeze. Daytime temperatures will generally be a little closer to average than on Wednesday, though it may still feel on the cool side where sunshine is limited or showers persist.

During Thursday evening and overnight, a band of showery rain will move east or southeast across Scotland and Northern Ireland. Elsewhere, showers will tend to fade during the evening, allowing a mix of cloud and clear spells to develop overnight.

Later in the night, some further showers may bubble up again across southern Wales and parts of southern and south-west England. In areas that see prolonged clear skies, temperatures could fall enough for some patchy fog to form, along with a local rural frost in the coldest spots.

Outlook for Friday

Friday will start with showery rain across Northern Ireland and Scotland, these showers gradually becoming confined to far southern Scotland and northern England. In these areas, heavier bursts of rain are possible at times.

For the rest of the UK, a mix of cloud and sunny spells is expected through the day, with showers developing again during the afternoon. The heaviest of these are most likely across parts of Wales, the Midlands, northern areas of southern England and eastern England. Many areas will feel a little warmer than on Thursday, although the far northwest is likely to remain cooler.

Showers will gradually fade during Friday evening for most, leading to clearer spells overnight. Some showers may linger across far northern England, but elsewhere conditions will turn drier. With clearer skies and lighter winds, there is a risk of local frost in the northwest and rural grass frost further south, along with isolated fog patches developing by dawn.

Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Annie Shuttleworth, said: “It should be quite a bright day and warmer than yesterday, particularly across eastern areas where temperatures are likely to climb towards 15 or 16°C quite widely. That’s a few degrees higher than yesterday, which should make all the difference, especially with lighter winds.

READ MORE: Pollen forecast: Low levels across all UK regions

“Winds will be south‑westerly through today, quite strong across north‑western areas of Scotland, particularly around a cold front that will stall overnight, bringing plenty of cloud. Further south, there will be a mix of cloud and clear skies, with the potential for some mist and fog to start the day on Friday.

“Under clearer skies, we could see a touch of ground frost, though for most places temperatures will just come close to freezing through Friday morning. It may actually be a relatively mild start in the far south‑west, with light winds making for a pleasant start to the day.

“However, Friday brings the risk of some quite heavy downpours for much of England and Wales. Not everyone will see these showers, and if you avoid them it will feel fairly warm, but where they do occur they could last a while, with a risk of very heavy, possibly thundery downpours.

“Temperatures will climb towards 20°C in the south, but where the weather front lingers across the north it will feel colder, with temperatures only just reaching double figures across parts of Northern Ireland and eastern Scotland. Brighter weather will push into the far north‑west of Scotland later in the day, though with a fresh north‑westerly wind.”

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