Issued: 0530hrs Wednesday 8th December 2010
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling

Cold weather over northern Europe with rain to the south

Wednesday
Drizzle across Portugal today, but fair for most of Spain. Cloud and periods of rain for most of France, this concentrated over southern areas. Colder to the north of France and this cold weather turning the rain to snow here. Very cold for the Low Countries and northern parts of Germany with sunny spells and some snow showers. Northern Poland will be dry overall with sunny spells, although southern Poland and Germany have more persistent snow. Hungary and Austria as well as Switzerland have some cloud with outbreaks of rain.
Showers and some rain over northern Italy, but more central and southern areas will be brighter and dry with some sunny spells. Fair through Greece and Turkey with plenty of sunshine to come here. Fair with sunny spells across Bulgaria and Romania with sunny spells.
Fair across the Baltic States and Finland with a low risk of some snow flurries. Fair for Sweden with some snow showers over Denmark. Norway should be fair.

Thursday
Fair and warm across the south of Spain and Portugal today with good spells of sunshine. More cloud and drizzle will be affecting the north of Iberia, with strong winds and cold weather in southern France. Central and northern France are cold but generally dry. The Low Countries have further cold conditions and some snow showers and will be breezy too. This cold weather with snow showers extending to Germany and Poland where there is the risk of snow showers too. Austria, Hungary and Switzerland should be breezy and cold but dry overall.
Low pressure over Italy brings rain, strong winds and some snow to the far north. The south should be brighter with some sunny spells. Fair again for Greece with more sunshine to come here and staying fine and sunny through Turkey too. For Bulgaria and Romania the day should be dry with sunny spells.
Unsettled weather for the Baltic States and southern Finland where there will be some snow. Snow showers affecting Sweden, with more persistent, but light, snow for Denmark. A few snow showers in Norway too.