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Thursday begins with heavy showers in the north and west but eastern areas are mostly dry. Through the day the showers become more widespread but there will be more drier and brighter periods than yesterday. The showers will be wintry with snow over high ground in the north.

Maximum temperatures range from 3C (37F) in northern Scotland to 7C (45F) in southern England. Strong winds in the south add to the chilly feel.

Tonight wintry showers continue with most of them in the north and west. A widespread frost develops.

Tomorrow all regions have a mix of sunny spells and wintry showers. It remains cold and quite windy.

The weekend

The chilly and showery theme continues on Saturday but much of the country has a fine winter's day. During Sunday a change begins to take place as cloud and outbreaks of rain spread across the northern half of the country. Northern areas turn milder but in the south it stays rather cold.

Next week open to question

Next week high pressure probably builds from the south. That should lead to a good deal of dry weather across the southern half of the UK but it is likely to be quite changeable in the north. The north should be quite mild but there is a possibility of foggy conditions and lower temperatures in the south.

There is uncertainty about how far north high pressure will build. Most of the computer model runs show it remaining close to southern areas but a few have it extending northeastwards into Scandinavia. That would lead to the possibility of a cold easterly flow developing by the Christmas period.

The ECM forecast chart below shows high pressure centred to the south of the UK at the end of next week.

ECM 00z, 14th Dec, pressure and 500hPa heights, 00:00 GMT Fri 22nd Dec

Forecast tools

Check the latest computer model predictions and rain radar using the links below:

Rain and precipitation type radar

Meteo France Arpege forecast charts

Global Forecast System (GFS) forecast charts

Christmas countdown

TWO's annual Christmas Countdown continues.

16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

Temperatures remain predominantly below average during the rest of this week. Next week milder and drier conditions are favoured in the south. In the north there a greater risk of rain is shown. View latest GEFS.