Issued: 0530hrs Friday 12th December 2014
Duty forecaster: Garry Nicholson
Improving after heavy rain for Greece and Turkey
Friday
A dry and bright day for most of Spain and Portugal on Friday, with warm sunshine in the south. Late in the day, rain develops toward the north-west of Iberia. Fair weather extends across the central Mediterranean, including southern France, Italy and the Balkan states, with plenty of sunshine. Fine in western Greece, however an area of low pressure brings very unsettled conditions to the eastern Mediterranean, including eastern Greece and the islands. Heavy thundery rain and blustery winds, will also affect Turkey and Cyprus. Switzerland, Austria and Hungary are dry and bright, with variable cloud, although quite breezy. Strong winds affect central and northern France, Germany and the Low Countries, with gales or severe gales. Strong winds spread east through the day into Poland and it becomes stormy in the southern Baltic later, including the Baltic States and western Russia. A cold front also brings heavy rain to this part of northern continental Europe through the day. Scattered snow showers across Scandinavia, although winds will be mostly light to the north of this storm system.
Saturday
Low pressure develops during the overnight hours north-west of Iberia, and will bring heavy rain to Portugal and western Spain on Saturday. Eastern Spain and the Balearics remain dry and warm with sunshine. Fair weather extends across the central Mediterranean, with showers very rare and isolated for southern France and northern Italy. The Greek islands improve considerably and will see a bright and dry day. Rain eases and clears too for Turkey, although a few thundery bursts will continue. An area of cloud and patchy rain persists across central France and Germany as a cold front weakens here. Dry for the Alpine region and eastern Europe, although quite breezy. It remains windy in southern Scandinavia with a few wintry showers, although the worst of Friday's storm will have cleared. That area of low pressure will decay during Saturday across north-west Russia and Finland, but giving some heavy snowfall. Frequent rain and mountain snow will affect western Norway, whilst Sweden will be dry and bright.