Issued: 0530hrs Thursday 27th September 2007
Duty forecaster: John Ejdowski

Gales across France, improving Friday

Today
Today a significant area of low pressure will be centred near south east France and will give much of Europe and the central Mediterranean an unsettled and windy day. Heavy spells of rain and scattered thunderstorms are forecast across southern France, Germany, the former Czech and Yugoslav Republics along with Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Heavy rain will also spill into western Poland with a dry day in the east. A gusty mistral will be blowing across southern France as well. There is a risk of some heavy, thundery showers edging into The Low Countries after a dry start.
Apart from some light rain near eastern England, it looks cool but generally dry and bright. Much of Scandinavia will also be dry with just a few well scattered showers across Sweden and Finland. Fine and mostly sunny toady for Holland and The Baltic States into Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. A few showers may affect northern coasts of Spain and here it's rather chilly. Southern Spain and the Balearics will be dry, sunny and warmer. Dry as well for the Balkans and rather hot today across Turkey.

Friday
Today low pressure areas centred over Germany and Poland will keep it very unsettled and chilly across much of Europe. From eastern France eastward into the Low Countries across Germany into Poland expect a breezy, wet day with spells of locally heavy and thundery rain. Rain will also fall across Holland, Denmark and southern parts of Sweden while it looks dry with sunny spells for Norway, northern Sweden and Finland. Another belt of heavy rain and thundery showers will lie from Slovakia into Hungary, Romania across the former Czech Republic and Bulgaria. This rain then moves into Greece later in the day after a fair, dry day.
Fine and dry across western France. Just the odd shower may develop today across southern Spain, otherwise a dry, sunny day for Iberia into the Balearic Islands. Early rain in the south of Italy should clear with a better afternoon across the country and just one or two showers. Still very warm and sunny today across Greece. High pressure will keep it dry as well across The Baltic States, Russia and the Ukraine.