Thursday 08/01/04 to Friday 09/01/04
A very unsettled day on Thursday, with wind and rain almost everywhere. One band of wet weather will affect eastern parts of England and Scotland during the morning, becoming drier and perhaps brighter for a time. Further heavy outbreaks of rain will sweep into western parts of England and Wales, spreading to eastern parts in the afternoon. Western Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland will have showers in western parts, although with sunny spells in the east. Windy everywhere. Overnight, the rain should clear away to the east, with clear spells and scattered showers elsewhere. On Friday, many parts will have a bright morning with sunny spells, although scattered showers will pepper western coasts. Staying dry in the east during the afternoon, but Ireland and Northern Ireland will become cloudy with outbreaks of rain, heavy at times. Winds will reach gale force around some southern and western coasts, but generally windy everywhere.

Saturday 10/01/04 to Sunday 11/01/04
Saturday will continue the unsettled, mild and wet regime, with further cloud and heavy rain sweeping across much of Ireland during the morning. After a bright morning, western parts of England and Wales will also turn rather wet, with the rain reaching all parts of the UK by the end of the afternoon. Further rain will wrap around Northern Ireland and western Scotland overnight, but it will be very mild. Windy everywhere, with gales around western coasts and hills. Overnight, the rain will continue across more eastern parts of the UK, with clear spells and showers once more returning to the west. By Sunday morning, eastern England and eastern Scotland will be cloudy with further pulses of rain, although these will gradually clear into the afternoon. Elsewhere, there will be a straight forward run of sunshine and showers, the showers heaviest and most frequent across western Scotland, western coasts of England and Wales and western parts of Ireland. Windy.

Monday 12/01/04 to Wedndesday 14/01/04
More unsettled weather in the outlook for next week, with wind and rain for all parts. Monday will be a rather better day for many central and northern parts, with sunny spells and only scattered showers. South-western parts of England and Wales, together with Ireland will become cloudy in the afternoon, with strengthening winds and outbreaks of rain. By Tuesday, this rain will have spread to all parts of the country, followed in turn by blustery showers in western parts during the afternoon, some heavy. Wednesday will once again see a transient ridge of high pressure spreading across the UK, killing of many of the showers and giving some pleasant sunny spells. Remaining very mild and breezy, and further rain will sweep across Ireland during the evening. More detail in the next forecast update.