Issued: 0530hrs Saturday 3rd April 2010
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling
The sunshine finds the Mediterranean, but there is rain to the north
Saturday
A band of cloud and some showery rain affects central parts of Portugal and Spain today. Either side of this area of cloud the weather is clear and dry with good spells of sunshine. For France the day is going to be rather mixed with sunshine and showers, the showers merging to longer spells of rain in the north where it will be windy too. For the Low Countries a brighter day is in prospect with one or two heavy showers. More cloud and rain passing eastwards through Germany bringing the risk of rain here. Poland should be dry with sunny spells. Hungary and Austria will have a fair amount of cloud and some spots of rain with thicker cloud and rain in Switzerland.
High pressure is set to bring another fine day to Italy with good spells of sunshine throughout the day. There will also be fine weather for much of Greece wituh more sunshine, and similar for Crete, Cyprus and the south of Turkey. Heavy showers affecting northern Turkey though. Mainly fair across Bulgaria and Romania.
Low pressure gigves cloud and some showers in the baltic States, but cloud and rain or sleet will be affecting Finland. Fair weather across Sweden with sunny spells here, cloud and rain arriving later in the day in southern Denmark. For Norway the day will be dry with some sunshine overall, although turning wet and windy in the south later.
Sunday
An area of high pressure will give fine conditions to Spain and Portugal today, and feeling fairly warm here too. Cloud and rain across southeastern France, but for much of the rest of the country the day will be fair with sunny spells. A few showers in northern France and these turning heavier over the Low Countries and northern Germany. Some rain affecting western parts of Poland this also spreading into northern Austria and northern Hungary. Switzerland will be generally dry with hazy sunshine.
Italy enjoys anouther fair day with good spells of sunshine, although low pressure is going to give showers in the northwest. For Greece the day is going to be dry throughout with plenty of sunshine too, and this sunshine extends throughout Turkey, Cyprus and Crete. Bulgaria and Romania are dry as well with sunshine here.
To the north there will be cloud and some periods of rain across the Baltic States, with more persistent rain, sleet and snow in Finland. Fair for the north of Sweden but cloud and some showery rain in the south. Showers for Denmark, some of them heavy but Norway should be dry with sunny spells.