Monday 28/07/03 to Tuesday 29/07/03
A bright start across much of England and Wales on Monday, with some good sunny spells. Across Ireland and Northern Ireland however, fronts will spread cloud and rain quickly in off the Atlantic. At the same time cloud will increase across north-west Scotland with some rain there before midday. South-westerly winds will freshen, becoming strong in the west. Skies will cloud over across remaining parts with rain pushing across much of Wales and central England, but it should remain dry in the east. Overnight and into Tuesday it will become very wet across most parts, with some heavy rain around. The most persistent of this will be across Ireland, Wales, southern and western parts of England. Scotland and eastern England may escape dry during the morning, but the rain is expected to reach here during the afternoon. Becoming brighter in the west, but with a number of heavy, blustery showers in strong westerly winds, possible gales around coasts in the south-west.

Wednesday 30/07/03 to Thursday 31/07/03
A respite from the unsettled conditions is expected for many on Wednesday, although the exact detail of this is currently uncertain. Tuesday's wet weather should clear from all eastern parts during the morning, although may linger in Shetland. The rest of the country, bar a scattering of showers will have sunny spells and should become pleasantly warm. Later in the afternoon, cloud will increase once more in western Ireland, heralding rain later. Overnight rain will reach all parts of Ireland and Northern Ireland, spreading to western parts of mainland UK by midday on Thursday. Winds will reach gale force once more in the Irish Sea and around the south-west, strong elsewhere. Extreme eastern parts will once again remain dry during daylight hours, and once the heavy rain clears western parts will brighten with sunshine and blustery showers. Temperatures about normal for the time of year.

Friday 01/08/03 to Sunday 03/08/03
No end in sight to our unsettled weather, with further rain or showers for all during the weekend. Friday in particular looks rather poor, with heavy rain across many northern and western parts spreading east during the day. Winds will be very strong, even gale force around western coasts, and where the rain does not reach across southern parts, plenty of showers will ruin any sunny spells there. Conditions will improve only very slowly across southern parts during Saturday, and may be mostly dry by Sunday with sunny spells. The north is expected to remain unsettled however right through, with rain or showers and strong winds. All in all, summer appears to be taking a back seat, although the plus side for most is that it will never feel particularly cool. More detail in the next forecast update.