Issued: 0530hrs Friday 18th February 2011
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling
Rain and cloud to the southeast but cold for Scandinavia
Friday
Cloud and drizzle for the coasts of Portugal and northwest Spain today. Most of mainland Iberia will be fair with plenty of sunshine throughout. There will be fine conditions for France, although morning mist and fog may take some time to clear. The Low Countries and Germany are going to be cold with sunny spells. A few wintry showers for northern Poland, but dry to the south and cold. It will be cold through Hungary and Austria as well as Switzerland, although it should be dry with sunny spells.
Low pressure over southern Italy brings cloud, wind and rain to the south of the country. More rain through central areas, although the far north should stay dry with sunny spells. Rain across western Greece, but fair to the east. Broken cloud across Turkey, but cloud and snow affecting much of Bulgaria and Romania.
High pressure across Scandinavia persists and brings dry and cold weather in Finland. Breezy through the Baltic States and remaining very cold here but dry. Some snow showers for southern Sweden. These snow showers drifting into Denmark with most of Norway being dry with some sunshine.
Saturday
Plenty of cloud around Spain and Portugal today. There will be outbreaks of rain at times, most on the hills to the north and west. Cloud and rain affecting western parts of Spain, the east being drier and brighter. Plenty of sunshine to come through the Low Countries and Germany. Very cold across eastern Europe and through Hungary too. More sunshine for Switzerland and Austria.
Dry for most of Italy with some good spells of sunshine, the best of these in the west. More eastern areas could see a few showers on the coasts, but elsewhere it should be dry. Low pressure in the Aegean brings lots of cloud and periods of rain here, some of these heavy in places. More cloud and some outbreaks of rain through Bulgaria and Romania.
High pressure to the north will be bringing more dry and cold weather over Finland and the Baltic States. There will be some bright spells coming through here. Dry weather across Sweden and Denmark as well as Norway with sunny spells, and it will be feeling very cold here as well.