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Issued: 0830hrs Saturday 7th May 2005
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling

A sunny start to the week

Chillier weather conditions this weekend, thanks to the northwest wind which is blowing direct from the Arctic. It�s still cold in the Arctic at this time of year, for example, Spitsbergen, an island north of Norway is reporting temperatures this morning of -6C.

So, it�s not surprising that it feels cold when the air generated in Spitsbergen blows through the British Isles.

With high pressure building to the west, this cold wind is slowly going to be fading away from the west during the course of next week.

By Sunday afternoon the high is building into the west of Ireland, and then it slips eastwards. There will still be showers affecting Scotland and the eastern coasts of England, but becoming increasingly dry.

By Tuesday the high is indicated to have built through western Ireland and Scotland, with good sunny spells here. It then drifts southwards into the middle part of the week.

We then need to watch developments more closely. A double-pronged attack may take place, with low pressure to the north and low pressure to the south. He effect of these two areas may be to �squeezeö the high out. However, at the moment, I think the high will persist and for most of us, next weekend should be pleasant too.

However, that�s dangerous talk for a weather forecaster, so before I say more than is advisable, I�ll wish you a good weekend !

Whatever the weather, keep the sun shining.


Simon