A brisk and rather chilly westerly air stream is affecting much of the country today and these winds will bring plenty of showers to the north and west, but come further south and east and it will be a mostly dry and bright day with some good sunny spells around. However Storm Barbara is brewing out over the Atlantic and she will move in during tomorrow bringing some wet and very windy weather with her.
Back to this morning and it is a dry and bright start to the day across many areas with clear skies having allowed some frost to form. For many southern and eastern regions it will be a dry day today with plenty of sunshine around and just some patchy cloud. There will also be some sunny spells further to the north and west, but heavy showers are continuing to affect Northern Ireland and western Scotland, the showers falling as snow over higher ground bringing some locally significant accumulations but also to lower levels over parts of Scotland whilst hail and thunder cannot be ruled out either. A few showers will also affect parts of northwest England and Wales but they will not be as frequent as further north. Temperatures in the south will reach highs of 7°C to 10°C but it will be colder for the north with values here nearer 2°C to 5°C, feeling colder still in the strong westerly winds.
A dry and rather cold night follows with a touch of frost forming in many regions away from the northwest where further showers are likely. However as we go through the second half of the night winds will start to pick up lifting temperatures a touch. The winds continue to strengthen tomorrow as Storm Barbara passes close to the northwest. Severe gales/storm force winds gusting over 70 MPH are likely across western Scotland, but it will become windy everywhere with heavy rain moving in from the north and west during the day although the far southeast will remain dry for much of daylight hours.
METEOROLOGIST: BARBER
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