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Wednesday begins with a patchy frost and there are showers in Northern Ireland and much of eastern Britain. The rest of the day brings sunny spells but wintry showers continue in the east and over higher ground some of them fall as snow. 

Temperatures range from 3C (37F) in Scotland to a 7C (45F) in the south west. See the rainfall and precipitation type radar for the latest view.

Tonight clear periods lead to a widespread frost. In coastal counties wintry showers continue and over the hills accumulations of snow are possible.

Tomorrow it's a similar picture. All regions have cold and bright conditions but wintry showers probably push further inland and there could even be a few flakes of snow in parts of central and south eastern England.

Meteo France Arpege 00z, 29th Nov, Precipitation, 13:00GMT, Thur 30th November

By Friday the wintry showers become confined to the south east of England. In the far north west cloud and patchy begin to return from the Atlantic.

Weekend warm up

During the weekend less cold air rolls over the top of high pressure in the Atlantic and pushes down across the UK. Weather fronts bring the risk of patchy rain at times and that could be preceded by a few flakes of snow in central areas on Saturday. By Sunday all regions will be milder but it is expected to be cloudy and damp in much of the country.

Milder or colder next week?

Monday and Tuesday are looking quite mild with cloud and patchy rain but developments during the middle of the week are very uncertain. Much colder air will be trying to return from the north as high pressure builds again to the west of the UK. Computer models are showing different possible outcomes and things are very much in the balance. A cold northerly flow could become established over the UK but another possible outcome is that high pressure collapses and milder air returns from the west.

Today's GFS 00z run shows a potent northerly air stream moving down across the UK by next Wednesday. It is one of the coldest scenarios shown by computer models with many others suggesting a milder pattern. Therefore confidence in it being correct is low.

GFS 00z, 29th November, MSLP and precipitation, Wed 6th December

TWO news and winter forecast

The TWO winter forecast covering December, January and February will be issued this week. Buzz looks at the medium term. TWO's fourth winter discussion update has been issued. The winter forecast covering December, January and February will be issued this week.

Christmas countdown

TWO's annual Christmas Countdown continues.

16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

Colder conditions are shown returning this week. By the weekend it turns less cold and in the longer term there are signs of more changeable conditions. View latest GEFS.