Wednesday 14/01/04 to Thursday 15/01/04
On Wednesday, much of southern England will have a rather cloudy start with some rain for a time. This will tend to linger for a time in the afternoon, but on the whole it should become a little brighter. Elsewhere, there will be plenty of sunny spells on offer, but also a fair number of heavy showers. The showers will be wintry at times with hail and thunder, falling as snow across Scotland. Eastern parts of England and Ireland will stay mostly dry though. Feeling chilly with fresh winds everywhere. Showers continuing in the north overnight, but turning clear and chilly elsewhere. On Thursday, much of Scotland and Northern Ireland will get away with another bright day, but still with sunny spells. Ireland, south-west England and south Wales will become quickly cloudy with spells of heavy rain sweeping northwards, reaching most of England, Wales and Ireland by evening. Winds will become strong across the south, with gales through the English Channel.

Friday 16/01/04 to Satuday 17/01/04
On Friday morning, the last of the rain will clear away from south-east England, then all parts will become colder once more. It will turn brighter however across England and Wales, with sunny spells and scattered showers. Once again, Scotland and Northern Ireland will have frequent showers, falling as sleet and snow to increasingly low levels in strong northerly winds. Overnight, wintry showers will feed into parts of North Wales, and down the east coast of England. Elsewhere, clear spells will give a widespread slight frost. Saturday will also be rather cold across many northern and eastern parts, with sunny spells and scattered sleet and snow showers. The rest of England and Wales, together with parts of Ireland will have rather more cloud around, with the risk of patchy light rain or drizzle at times. Milder in the south, but with freshening winds later.

Sunday 18/01/04 to Tuesday 20/01/04
Sunday looks like being a very windy day, especially across Scotland and across eastern England. The northerly winds will bring frequent showers of hail, sleet and snow across these areas, some heavy. The rest of the UK and Ireland will have sunny spells after a frosty start, but even here isolated showers will develop. The east will stay windy with scattered showers on Monday, but a ridge of high pressure will build across Ireland and other western parts, keeping conditions mostly dry, sunny, but rather cold. This high pressure will affect central and eastern parts on Tuesday, with sunshine and patchy cloud here after overnight frost. Milder conditions will slowly arrive in western parts through the day, with rather a lot of cloud and patchy rain and drizzle later.