Issued: 0530hrs Monday 16th March 2009
Duty forecaster: John Ejdowski

Fine through the Mediterranean

Today
An area of rain will stretch from Norway into Scotland. A large area of high pressure is going to give much of Europe a fine, settled day. So dry with good sunny spells and mild temperatures will prevail across England. France into Belgium and Holland. Dry too with some cloud and sunny intervals across Denmark into Germany and Poland. If you want the best of the temperatures and sunshine best to head for Portugal and Spain as it warms up to 25C in the south west. There is a risk of some showers today across the Balearics while it looks fine and mostly sunny across Corsica, Sardinia into Italy and Greece. Just the odd shower toady across Turkey otherwise dry here too with sunny spells. Rain with a bit of sleet will fall across the Ukraine and eastern Hungary with dry weather through Bulgaria, Romania and the former Yugoslav Republic. Mainly a dry day across Sweden until rain arrives in the evening. For Finland expect spells of sleet and rain with the Baltic States and much of Russia chilly but dry with sunnier spells.
Expect top temperatures of 16C in London, 13C for Brussels, 16C for Paris, 23C for Madrid, 19C in Rome, 12C in Bucharest, 16C in Athens, 6C in Warsaw, 10C in Berlin, 0C in Moscow and 6C for Stockholm.

Tuesday
Cold air spills south across Scandinavia into north east Europe driven south on gale force northerly winds. As rain clears from Poland, Finland and Sweden, snow showers will push south during the afternoon and evening. These will turn heavy and will also affect the Baltic Region and western parts of Russia. It remains mild across western Europe with another fine spring-like day for the United Kingdom and France. With high pressure remaining in control the warm, sunny weather continues across Spain into the Balearics and across into Italy. Just a few showers across Greece other wise a dry day with sunny spells. Heavy showery rain is forecast for western Turkey with a fie, dry across the former Yugoslavia. Expect scattered showers for Bulgaria, Hungary and the Ukraine. Windy with snow showers developing across Belarus and later the Ukraine as the rain clears. It looks fine and dry across Belgium, Holland and Denmark with sunny spells.