A cloudy start to Thursday for many parts of the country as a very weak cold front clears away to the south and west before it returns to the west and northwest later as a warm front. This front is bringing little more than some patchy rain or drizzle with it and so for those areas which have seen very little rainfall in recent weeks then it's likely to be some time yet before any meaningful rain returns.

That cloud will tend to break up as we go through the day with sunnier skies developing over many parts of Scotland and northern England quite quickly before extending to many other regions by this afternoon although it may take until late for some of the more stubborn cloud in the south to break up. In the sunshine it will feel quite warm as temperatures reach maximums of 21°C to 23°C quite widely, but for southern regions of England and Wales highs of 25°C or 26°C are expected.

Cloudier skies will also tend to linger in the west and further outbreaks of rain and drizzle will return to northern and western parts of Scotland, reaching the Northern Isles later and here temperatures will be held back in the mid-high teens at best.

Not a huge amount of change is expected tonight or tomorrow with northern and western regions holding onto the bulk of the cloud with some occasional rain and drizzle whilst for most places it will be dry with warm sunshine developing tomorrow with the highest temperatures once again across the south.

METEOROLOGIST: BARBER

Radar ► Visible Satellite ► Airmass ► 

Into next month and the Red Arrows finally back to where they belong and flying to airshows and festivals around the British Isles...

Conditions settling down and warming up in the next week or so as the Azores High ridges in...