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Issued: 0530hrs Thursday 5th March 2009
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling

Cold in western parts of Europe, and unsettled almost everywhere

Thursday
A cold mass of air plunging southwards through Iberia, taking a band of cloud and rain with it. Sunshine and showers follow from the north, the heaviest of them along northern coasts. France is going to experience a cold day too with a mix of sunshine and showers, some of them heavy in the north and west. For the Low Countries it should be bright, generally dry and cold. Cloudier skies through Germany and Poland but relatively mild here with the threat of some drizzle and low cloud. A few bright spells and mainly dry in Austria and Hungary with the chance of drizzle or light rain for Poland.
Low pressure dominates the weather over Italy bringing cloud and heavy periods of rain here. More rain to come over western and northern parts of Greece with some showers spreading eastwards through Crete. Sunshine and showers over the west of Turkey, but the east will be bright with some sunshine and mainly dry conditions.
To the north there will be cloud and some sleety drizzle or rain over the Baltic States where it will be windy too. South of Finland there will be cloud and some snow, whilst central and northern areas are dry and bright with some sunshine here. A breezy day over central and southern Sweden with some drizzle and rain or sleet. Variable cloud through Denmark and Norway with a fair amount of cloud.

Friday
Another chilly day over Iberia with cloud and some drizzle for the north of Spain and Portugal. A brighter day over France and cold here as well, but it should be dry. The Low Countries will be dry and bright with some sunshine, but cloud increasing from the east. A rather cloudy day through Germany with periods of rain and drizzle, this extending through Poland as well. Across Austria and Hungary there will be cloud and some drizzle or light rain too. Variable cloud across Poland with some bright or sunny spells.
Over Italy there will be some dry weather and sunny spells for northern areas. To the south there will be cloud and rain or showers, this heavy in the far south. Cloudy and wet through Greece, some of it heavy at times. A few showers for western Turkey but the east should be dry with some sunny spells. Showers through Bulgaria and Romania, some of the showers heavy at times.
For the Baltic States there will be outbreaks of sleet and snow whilst Finland should be dry with a few snow showers in the south, but dry and cold to the north. More cloud and some sleety snow over southern Sweden, but drier to the north and bright. Denmark is going to be rather cloudy with some drizzle and Norway should be largely dry with variable cloud.