Tuesday 27/01/04 to Wednesday 28/02/04
It will be colder everywhere on Tuesday, with a widespread frost and icy patches slow to clear. Much of central, southern and western England, together with Wales and Ireland will have a dry day with sunny spells. Eastern parts of England, will have wintry showers however, turning to snow in many places with a covering on the hills. The snow showers across Scotland and Northern Ireland will become more persistent in the afternoon, with some heavy snowfalls by evening. Overnight, many eastern and northern parts will become very windy with further snow, and a widespread frost elsewhere. On Wednesday, heavy sleet and snow will affect much of northern England, north Wales and parts of eastern Ireland, with drifting over the hills. North-east England in particular, and much of Scotland will have gale force northerly winds, giving blizzard conditions in places. Central and southern England and Wales will be bright with sunny spells, but with snow showers later. Cold.

Thursday 29/01/04 to Friday 30/01/04
By Thursday, southern parts of England, Wales and Ireland will be rather cloudy with rain, sleet and snow. Elsewhere, it will be back to a straight-forward run of northerly winds, sunny spells and snow showers. The heaviest, more frequent showers will always be across eastern England and Scotland, with significant accumulations and blizzard conditions over the hills. The best of the sunshine will be across western parts of England and Wales, together with Northern Ireland. High pressure is expected to slowly move across much of Ireland and Northern Ireland by Friday, giving most parts a dry, if cold day, with sunny spells. A very different day for Scotland and north-east England, with further spells of sleet and snow, with strong northerly winds giving blizzards over the hills. The rest of England and Wales will have a frosty start, but with sunny spells developing and only isolated wintry showers.

Saturday 31/01/04 to Monday 02/02/04
The weekend looks like seeing a return to milder weather, albeit a slow process. On Saturday, sleet and snow will continue across Scotland, and across much of Ireland, and western parts of England and Wales, rain will slowly move in from the south-west, giving snow in places for a time. Eastern parts will be mostly dry, bright and rather cold. By Sunday, all parts will have outbreaks of rain, some heavy. The rain will once again fall as snow in eastern parts for a time. Much milder for the start of next week, with showers or longer spells of rain and freshening south-westerly winds. More details on next week in the next forecast update.