The latest weather maps show Britain being lashed with wind and rain as unsettled conditions moves in to break the balmy spell of sunshine Brits have been enjoying. One map generated on Tuesday (April 8) by WX Charts shows wet weather pushing in from the Atlantic and up from Europe early next week.
It shows heavy rain across a vast swathe of western Britain, including Wales, the South West, parts of the West Midlands and North West England at 6pm on Tuesday, April 15. A second map shows rainfall totals up to 50mm at 6pm the next day, with the highest totals in parts of North Devon, North Somerset, Wales and south west Scotland.
Maximum temperatures next Tuesday are set to range between 10C to 12C in Scotland, 10C to 17C in England, 12C to 13C in Wales and Northern Ireland, according to WX Charts maps.
The Met Office’s long-range outlooks suggest unsettled weather next week, with temperatures closer to average, but perhaps above average in some spots.
A Met Office spokesperson said: “Largely dry and fine conditions will continue through much of this week, though with some showers possible in parts of Scotland from Friday and into Saturday.
“There are also signals for some more unsettled weather on Sunday and into next week, but it’s too early to give specific details.”
The national forecaster did say that temperatures are likely to drop this weekend and into next week as more of an Atlantic influence takes hold of Britain’s weather.
According to the Met Office, this will mainly bring rain at the start of next week, though there is a chance of some wintry showers over higher ground in Scotland.
However, the forecaster cautioned that precise details and timings for any snowfall, or even how far it will spread, won’t be available until nearer the time.
Netweather’s senior forecaster, Nick Finnis, said most of the UK will be dry and settled this week with plenty of sunshine, but there are signs of a breakdown in the settled conditions as the country heads into the third week of April and the run up to Easter.
He said: “High pressure will give way to low pressure moving in from the southwest at the weekend, bringing outbreaks of rain to most parts and low pressure looks to stay close to the west through next week, continuing the unsettled conditions.”
Mr Finnis said a low pressure system centred just west of Portugal on Friday looks to drift northeast towards North West Europe over the weekend, though there is “some uncertainty” over its track.
He added: “But there is potential for cloudier skies with outbreaks of rain to spread northeast across parts of England and Wales over the weekend, perhaps Scotland and Ireland too, depending on the track of the low.
“But there should be some drier weather with some sunny spells around too, especially on Saturday, cloudier with greatest chance of rain on Sunday.”