Friday 09/01/04 to Saturday 10/01/04
On Friday, any remaining rain will clear away from northern Scotland during the morning, then all parts will have a brighter day with sunny spells. There will also be a fair number of showers around however, these heaviest and most frequent around western parts of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as western coasts of mainland UK. Some showers will spread across central parts, although these will die away by evening. Fresh westerly winds, but staying rather mild. Overnight, many parts will have clear skies and only isolated showers, but cloud will increase in the south-west. By Saturday morning, outbreaks of rain will affect much of Ireland, south-west England and Wales, heavy at times. This is expected to sweep north-eastwards across all parts during the afternoon, accompanied by strong westerly winds, reaching gale force in the north and the west. Becoming brighter across Ireland by mid-afternoon, but with squally showers. Staying

Sunday 11/01/04 to Monday 12/01/04
Staying very unsettled on Sunday, with sunny spells at first in eastern parts giving way to another band of heavy rain marching in from the west. Turning brighter as the rain passes across Ireland and Northern Ireland, but heavy, thundery showers will also develop. Very windy, with gales expected in north-west Scotland, Northern Ireland and through the Irish Sea. Overnight, rain will continue across England and Wales, only slowly moving away towards dawn. At the moment, it looks as if late Monday will become rather stormy across some parts of the UK, with winds reaching severe gale force and heavy rain sweeping across the country. It is currently uncertain however, exactly where this deep area of low pressure will track, and thus where the peak winds are expected. However, it will become very windy everywhere, with rain during the day clearing to squally showers overnight. More detail on this will be given in Sunday's forecast update.

Tuesday 13/01/04 to Thursday 15/01/04
The forecast for the middle of next week will very much depend on the exact track of Monday's storm system. However, it is expected to remain generally unsettled, with showers or longer outbreaks of rain. Tuesday should see somewhat of a lull once Monday night's winds ease down, with sunny spells and only well scattered showers. It will also feel a good deal cooler than of late. On Wednesday, another area of low pressure is expected to sweep across Northern Scotland, bringing a band of rain across the country. Behind this, winds look set to turn more north-westerly, brining colder air across northern parts. On Thursday, these winds may switch to a more northerly direction, with wintry showers returning to western and northern parts after our mild spell.