Thursday
A cold and cloudy start to the day for most of the country. There could be some mist and fog patches around early on through Wales, northern England and Scotland, but these should be clearing away. A few bright spells may then form here and there, but thickening cloud will be bringing rain into Ireland. The afternoon sees some brighter spells through Scotland, central and eastern parts of England. Towards the west the cloud is going to be increasing and the winds will be picking up too. Rain will be crossing Ireland and moving into west Wales and southwest England by dusk. Those winds may gist to gale force in the west later. Highs near a cold 3 or 4C for many of central and northern areas, milder air arriving with the rain in Ireland with 11C here.
Thursday Night
The rain and stronger winds will be passing eastwards during the course of the night, turning to snow over the high ground of Scotland and northern England. There could be as much as 10cm of snow over the hills i the north by the end of the night. At lower levels the rain could be quite heavy, especially in the west although will become more fragmented as it heads east. Drier weather will be arriving through Ireland and into west Wales and western England by the morning. The winds decreasing and lows of 1 to 4C.
Friday
rain affecting eastern parts of England and Scotland at first today. This will be slowly pushing away to the east, but it may linger for some time over East Anglia and the far southeast, it may be late afternoon before it clears here. Further west drier and brighter weather will be moving in. Some good spells of sunshine to come for many central and western areas, although there will be some showers affecting the high ground of western Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Highs at 6 to 11C.
Saturday
A frosty start to the morning on Saturday with high pressure over the west and north of the country. There will be some mist and fog patches at first, mostly through Wales, northern England and southern Scotland. These will be clearing away and then the day is going to be dry with sunny spells for many of us. There will be a tendency for cloud to be increasing from the east in the afternoon, this bringing some drizzle onto the coasts. A cool day at 5 to 8C.