Friday 26/09/03 to Saturday 27/09/03
A cloudy start to Friday across northern Britain, with occasional rain. For most of Wales, England and Ireland it will be a sunny morning with patchy mist clearing. During the afternoon, a weakening band of cloud and rain will push southwards, reaching the south-east by early evening. North of this, skies will brighten with sunny spells, but turning cooler with winds from the north. Scattered showers in north-east Scotland will filter south into north-east England. A clear, cool night with patchy frost across Ireland, but a generally fine and sunny start to Saturday in most parts. The exception will be southern England, where cloud will persist for much of the day. During the afternoon, showers will spread into north-west Scotland, possibly Northern Ireland. Elsewhere it will be a fine afternoon and evening, turning chilly overnight. Southern England will remain cloudy however into the evening, and rain will become more organised over Scotland after dark.

Sunday 28/09/03 to Monday 29/09/03
Remaining largely dry and bright across Wales and Central England for much of Sunday, but becoming unsettled from all sides during the day! South-east England will see cloud thickening with the threat of rain during the afternoon. At the same time a band of heavy rain will cross from west to east over much of Scotland and Northern England. Towards evening, the next band of rain will spread into western parts of Ireland with strengthening north-westerly winds. The new week will start very unsettled, as active weather fronts cross all parts. The rain will be heavy at times, spreading across northern and western parts during Monday morning, reaching the south-east by late afternoon. Winds will be strong, from a cool north-westerly direction, and these will drive plenty of heavy showers across Northern Ireland and Scotland once the main rain clears. Becoming cool for all parts, with temperatures below average for the time of year.

Tuesday 30/09/03 to Thursday 02/09/03
Tuesday will begin much as Monday, with bands of rain or showers across the whole country. Some of these will be heavy, especially in western parts of Ireland and north-west Scotland. Some parts of central southern England may miss the showers and stay dry and bright. Cool in all parts, especially in the north with strong northerly winds. Mid-week will see a continuation of the unsettled weather, the worst of which should clear by last thing on Wednesday. At present it does look like a ridge of high pressure will build in from the south-west, allowing more settled conditions across southern parts later. Confidence is low at the moment due to the transitional situation in our weather, so more detail on next week will be in Monday's forecast update.