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Friday begins with scattered showers but it is mostly dry and locally there is a touch of frost. This morning sunny spells develop in all regions but during the afternoon cloud thickens in the west. Outbreaks of rain reach Northern Ireland and western Scotland by early evening but elsewhere it remains dry. 

Temperatures range from 4C (39F) in Scotland to 8C (46F) in the south. See the rainfall radar for the latest view.

Tonight wet and windy weather moves across much of the north and west. The south east will be dry but after a clear and frosty start cloud amounts increase.

Tomorrow the rain pushes eastwards and it could linger in the south east well into the afternoon. Western and central regions become drier but in the north there will be heavy showers. Most of the country has a very mild day but colder air  pushes into Scotland during the afternoon.

Sunday brings another spell of wet weather to the north and west but the south should be dry. It is expected to be very mild and temperatures could push towards 15C (59F) in the east.

GFS 00z, 26th Jan, maximum temperatures, 15:00 GMT Sun 28th Jan

Fool's spring?

There is a tendency for temperatures to rise in late January before they dip away again during the first half of February. Fool's spring? That could turn out to be the case this year. Next week looks mixed with colder air pushing southeastwards at times. Later on there is a moderate chance of it turning much colder either from the north or the east as as the high pressure blocks move around.

The GFS forecast chart below shows a very cold pattern becoming established by Sunday 4th February. High pressure builds in the Atlantic and a northerly flow sweeps down across the UK. This is one of the coldest scenarios the computer models are suggesting with most at the present time going for a milder pattern.    

GFS 00z, 26th Jan, surface pressure and 500hPa heights, 15:00 GMT Sun 4th Feb

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16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

Quite a lot of dry weather is shown but some wetter spells are possible. A risk of colder spells is shown during the first half of February. View latest GEFS.