Wednesday 01/10/03 to Thursday 02/10/03
Cloudy skies greeting much of southern England during Wednesday, with outbreaks of heavy rain spreading north. This rain will extend into south Wales and the south Midlands towards midday, eastwards into East Anglia by early evening. Elsewhere, bright or sunny for much of the day after early fog clears. Rather cloudy in parts of Northern Ireland however. Winds becoming strong in the south for a time, moderating later. Overnight, rain will continue in the south, turning more showery. During Thursday morning, the rain will gradually ease and become confined to the east. Showers will develop for a time along the south coast, but becoming dry even here. Again, the rest of the UK and Ireland will be dry and bright, with plenty of sunshine. During the afternoon however, strengthening north-westerly winds will bring cloud and rain into Northern Ireland and western Scotland. Temperatures around average in the south, slightly above in the north.

Friday 03/10/03 to Saturday 04/10/03
A band of cloud and weakening rain will drive south-eastwards across all parts of the UK on Friday, clearing the south coast during the afternoon. Behind this, strong north-westerly winds will progressively turn northerly by the end of the day. Most of the UK will have sunny spells once cloud clears south, the best of this will be across Ireland and western parts. Blustery showers or longer spells of rain will continue across Scotland, with showers draped along eastern coasts of England. By Saturday morning, all parts will be in a brisk northerly flow, winds gusting to gale force in north-east Scotland. Frequent, squally showers will affect northern and eastern parts, with showers developing inland during the day. The showers will turn wintry in Scotland, falling as snow over the hills. Some southern and western parts will remain dry with good sunny spells. It will feel bitterly cold everywhere, especially in the strong northerly wind.

Sunday 05/10/03 to Tuesday 07/10/03
Strong northerly winds will continue during Sunday, with further blustery showers, wintry in Scotland. Winds should ease however, turning more to the north-west but only in time for more Atlantic weather fronts to push in off the Atlantic. These weather fronts are expected to cross northern parts overnight and early on Monday, whereas many southern parts should stay mainly dry. Winds will begin to swing back to the north or north-west during Monday afternoon, setting the scene for another cold day on Tuesday with blustery showers feeding down eastern coasts. The exact timing of this scenario is uncertain at present, although it does look like southern and western parts stand the best chance of staying dry during the new week.