Issued: 0530hrs Thursday 6th January 2011
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling

Heavy rain affecting central Europe, colder to the north, the best sunshine in the eastern Mediterranean

Thursday
Cloud and rain affecting Portugal and northern parts of Spain throughout the day. Southern parts of Iberia will be dry with plenty of sunshine. Cloud and rain reaching the south of France, with a brisk with and some rain in the north. More rain to come through the Low Countries and northern Germany and Poland. Cloud and dry weather for Hungary, with dry weather across Austria and Switzerland.
Fine and dry through Italy with some sunny spells to come here. Showers across western and southern Greece. Heavy showers across mid and eastern Turkey with western parts of Turkey fine and dry with plenty of sunshine. More sunshine across Bulgaria and Romania, although cold here too.
A windy day through the Baltic States and Finland with some spots of drizzle or sleet here. More wind and cloud through Sweden this bringing rain, sleet and snow. Sleet and snow over southern Denmark, with wintry showers for Norway, some heavy.

Friday
Showery across northern and western parts of Iberia today. The best of the sunshine across the south where it is going to be warm too. More rain across France, some of it heavy at times, but turning drier in the west later. Cloud and rain across the Low Countries and Germany too, some of it heavy as it spreads to Poland. Fair across much of Hungary, but rain through Austria and Switzerland.
Showers through Italy, a few of them heavy on the hills, although tending to turn drier through the day. High pressure over Greece brings sunny spells here. Sunshine across most of Turkey too, although cloud and some drizzle to the east. Mist and some fog patches across Romania and Bulgaria.
Windy with cloud and snow affecting the Baltic States. This snow spreading through Finland too, and some may be heavy. Brighter for Sweden with only a few snow showers. Fair for Denmark with sunny spells here, as cloud and some sleet moves into western parts of Norway.