IMPORTANT : ARCHIVED CONTENT

Wednesday begins with a band of patchy rain across central and eastern parts of Britain. The wet conditions slowly clear eastwards today but they linger in eastern counties into the late afternoon. Skies brighten in the west but during the second half of the day there is a risk of rain flirting with Cornwall.

Temperatures range from 4C (39F) in Scotland to 10C (50F) in the south west. See the rainfall radar for the latest view.

Tonight patchy rain continues near the east coast for a while but elsewhere it will be mostly dry. In western and northern regions clear spells lead to a frost, and fog could form quite widely.

Tomorrow a ridge of high pressure brings drier conditions. Central and western parts of the UK have sunny spells but the east remains cloudier. It will feel quite cold.

Friday is expected to be quite damp although some brighter and drier spells are possible. Winds strengthen in western parts of the UK.

Weekend weather

During the weekend a transition back to unsettled weather begins but the latest computer model data suggests it may take a little longer than was expected. Weather fronts from the Atlantic bring an increasing risk of rain to the west but initially they may struggle to push eastwards. That could leave much of the UK with a good deal of dry weather.

The forecast chart below for Sunday shows wet and windy weather pushing into the north west as the transition back to an Atlantic based flow begins.

GFS 00z, 10th Jan, pressure and precipitation, 15:00 GMT Sun 14th Jan

Snow risk next week

Quite an unusual spell of unsettled and rather cold weather is forecast for much of next week. Pressure remains low over continental Europe and with the jet stream tilted northwest to southeast the UK is likely to be sitting under a chilly west to northwesterly air stream. Showers or longer spells of rain affect all areas and at times it could be cold enough for snow. The snow risk is greatest over the northern hills but anywhere north of the M4 corridor could see snow.

Register for the TWO community

If you would like to join the TWO community please see how to register for the forum. People with all levels of meteorological knowledge are very welcome to apply. However if you're a meteorology (or related subject) student or recent graduate there may be an opportunity for you to earn some money next summer.

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

16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

After a quiet start more unsettled conditions return. There is a possibility of snow at times, especially in the north. View latest GEFS.