Wednesday 24/09/03 to Thursday 25/09/03
Wednesday will start clear and cold across many parts of England and Wales, with patchy fog and frost. Sunny skies will quickly allow conditions to warm up however, with a pleasant afternoon in prospect here. A similar day across Ireland, although no problems with fog with more wind around. For northern Scotland and later Northern Ireland, cloudier skies will bring outbreaks of rain later, some heavy. Winds will be very strong here during the evening, near gale in the extreme north-west. Overnight, rain will continue in the extreme north, with another chilly, frosty night further south. This will lead into another sunny Thursday for England, Wales and Ireland, after overnight mist has cleared. Cloudy skies will persist across Northern Ireland and Scotland, with rain becoming more persistent during the day. Winds strengthening yet further, reaching gale force. Temperatures slightly above average in the south, perhaps reaching 20C in places, more like 14-16C in the North.

Friday 26/09/03 to Saturday 27/09/03
A breakdown to yet more unsettled weather is expected across all parts during Friday, as low pressure in the north swings its fronts eastwards. After a bright morning in eastern and southern England, cloud and patchy rain already across Wales and the Midlands will spread steadily eastwards, giving a damp afternoon. Heavy rain will encompass much of Scotland and later Northern Ireland, together with gale force northerly winds in the north-west later. By Saturday morning, all parts will be in a cool north-westerly flow, with rain continuing in the extreme south-east for a time. Scotland will also see spells of heavy rain at times, with strong to gale force winds only slowly easing. Brighter in remaining parts with sunny spells, but also a few blustery showers, mainly along coasts exposed to the north-westerly winds.

Sunday 28/09/03 to Tuesday 30/09/03
Our previous forecast suggested the weekend would be fine and sunny across many parts. This is now set to arrive by Sunday, as high pressure builds from the west. The best of the sunshine will be across England, Wales and Ireland, after a foggy start inland. Feeling cool in the north-westerly breeze, but pleasant in any shelter. Scotland and Northern Ireland will remain mostly cloudy, with spells of rain from time to time. With fresh westerly winds here, it will be a little milder overnight, but equally chilly during the daytime. Monday will see similar conditions, with the more unsettled weather confined to the far north and west, with sunshine further south after patchy mist and frost clears. At present, we're expecting a weakening band of patchy rain to spread south-eastwards during Tuesday across all parts, but the exact timing of this is currenlty uncertain.