Kirkwall Youth Hostel (Orkney Islands) weather

Headline:

Mainly dry with bright spells on Sunday. Breezy across Orkney.

This Evening and Tonight:

Rain will soon clear north from Orkney where it will remain dry with clear spells overnight. Cloudy with rain continuing across Shetland, heavy at times in the evening but clearing later. Light to moderate southerly winds. Minimum temperature 9 °C.

Sunday:

Mainly dry with only a few showers developing later. Some brighter spells breaking through the veil of higher cloud. Southerly winds, occasionally strong across Orkney. Maximum temperature 13 °C.

Outlook for Monday to Wednesday:

Unsettled with showers and longer periods of rain which turn heavy at times. Fresh to strong easterly winds Monday, easing Tuesday, then backing to a strong northerly for Wednesday.

The forecast period looks most likely to be mostly unsettled, with frequent bouts of wind and rain associated with areas of low pressure. There remains a threat of ex-Hurricane Kirk bringing very wet and windy conditions to some parts of the UK, especially the south, although the centre of this system looks most likely to track across northern France. Scotland and Northern Ireland are more likely to turn colder with showers from Wednesday, the colder weather (perhaps some snow on Scottish mountains) then gradually working its way south by the end of the week. Perhaps turning a little more settled for some areas as we head into next weekend, although detail by this stage is very low confidence.

A continuation of low pressure systems tracking in from the Atlantic is the most likely scenario for the rest of October. This means wet and windy weather at times, especially across England and Wales, but with a suggestion that Scotland and Northern Ireland may be more likely to see longer breaks in the weather, and more in the way of drier spells. It is possible that these drier conditions could be seen more widely later in the month as higher pressure further north extends southwards for a time. This would also bring an increased chance of overnight fog and frost. Temperatures will tend to be close to average overall in the south, but probably below average in the north and northwest.