Please click here for details of the weather over the next few days.

Saturday 21/02/04 to Sunday 22/02/04
Saturday is expected to remain much the same as recent days, with large parts of the country staying dry and settled. The best of the sunshine will be across western parts of England and Wales, together with much of Ireland. Conditions are set to deteriorate across Northern Ireland and Scotland during the day however, as cloud and outbreaks of rain move in from the north-west, accompanied by strengthening north-westerly winds. This cloud and increasingly patchy rain should clear the south coast by Sunday morning, but this will set the scene for a colder spell of weather. Fresh to strong northerly winds will bring sunny spells to many parts, but also showers, increasingly wintry across Scotland, and along the coast of north-east England. Later in the afternoon, showers will also run into Northern Ireland and parts of north Wales and Cheshire, some heavy. Central and southern parts of England, together with Ireland will be dry and bright, but much colder everywhere.

Monday 23/02/04 to Tuesday 24/02/04
After a frosty start, many places can expect a bright, crisp day with sunny spells. The best of the sunshine will be across Ireland, together with sheltered parts of southern England and Wales. Wintry showers will continue in the north and east, turning to snow over the Scottish mountains, and possibly to sleet or wet snow across the hills of north-east England. Northern Ireland will be showery at first, but should become mostly dry in the afternoon. Strong northerly winds down the east coast will make it feel particularly cold there. On Tuesday, a thicker band of cloud with rain, sleet and snow at first looks set to spread from the north-west, reaching many parts by the end of the afternoon. Some of the rain will be heavy, and may give a few hours of heavy snow over the high ground across Scotland and northern England. Before the rain arrives, much of England, Ireland and Wales can expect sunny spells, although still feeling rather cold with a frosty start.

Wednesday 25/02/04 to Thursday 26/02/04
Scotland and Northern Ireland will stay rather cloudy on Wednesday, with spells of showery rain at times. The rest of the UK and Ireland will be mostly dry with some sunshine, but rather more cloud around than on recent days. During the evening and overnight, many places will turn drier, and clear spells will give frost and fog in some parts. On Thursday however, the winds look like strengthening once again, becoming northerly in direction. This will bring a renewed risk of wintry showers across Scotland and Northern Ireland, but rather cloudy across England and Wales with rain for a time in the afternoon. More details on next week's weather in the next long-range forecast update.