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Sunday begins wet start in Wales, south western England and Northern Ireland. Through the day outbreaks of rain spread northeastwards but central and northern areas of Scotland should stay dry until the evening. In the afternoon brighter and showery conditions return to southern and central regions. 

Arpege 00z, forecast rain, 16:00 BST Sun 15th April

Temperatures will be down on yesterday's values ranging from about 11C (52F) to 17C (63F). See the rainfall and precipitation type radar for the latest view.

Tonight the rain gradually becomes confined to the north. In southern and central areas clear spells develop.

Tomorrow wet and windy weather pushes into Northern Ireland and north western Britain. Elsewhere it will be dry with the best of the sunshine in central and eastern regions.

On Tuesday outbreaks of rain steadily push eastwards and they could be heavy in the north and west. Central and south eastern England probably remain dry but after a bright start cloud cover builds.

Warm and fine spell

By Wednesday high pressure centred over the near continent will be exerting its influence on the UK's weather. In the north west the risk of rain remains but elsewhere it should be dry with increasing amounts of warm sunshine. Temperatures across much of central and eastern Britain could nudge above 21C (70F).

Thursday and Friday are looking even warmer. There is a chance of 27C (81F) being reached locally in south eastern England as very warm air continues to be pumped up from southern Europe. The GFS 00z chart below is for 16:00 BST, Friday 20th April.

GFS 00z, forecast 850hPa temperatures and surface pressure, 16:00 BST Fri 20th April

Barbecue weekend?

As we head towards the weekend subtle changes develop but it increasingly looks as though another high pressure cell will build from the southwest. That means the fine spell continues in most of the UK but there is a chance of it being more changeable at times in the north west.

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16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

Warmer and drier conditions develop early next week. After April 21st temperatures trend downwards and the chance of changeable weather returning increases. View latest GEFS.